In the end, it wasn’t about the medal

CANADA’S ELLIE BLACK FIGHTS THROUGH ANKLE PAIN FOR 4TH PLACE ON BEAM, BILES TAKES BRONZE

The fourth-place finisher was sobbing, but not for the reason you might think.

Canada’s Ellie Black wasn’t sure she would be able to compete in the balance beam final — or compete, period — at these Tokyo Olympics.

She teared up as she talked about how proud she was to hit a routine on a sprained left ankle.

The third-place finisher was smiling, but not for the reason you might think. It wasn’t about the bronze medal.

Because Simone Biles wasn’t sure she would be cleared for Tuesday’s balance beam final, either. The American superstar was always going to be the biggest story of these Summer Games, and that was certainly the case after she withdrew from every other gymnastics event to focus on her mental health.

Biles repeated several times she was competing on the beam “for me” and was going to be darn proud of it, regardless of the result.

When Biles completed her routine with a double pike dismount, a necessary alteration because of what she has described as “the twisties,” Black was soon there to wrap her up in a hug.

“I thought it was incredible,” Black said of Biles’ performance on the beam. “She’s been through so much and I think it’s important that she prioritized what she needs, and I’m happy she could have another chance on the floor. Just kind of like me, another opportunity to go out and show what we have practised so hard to do, even though it wasn’t exactly what we planned.

“So I’m really happy for her to be able to have that opportunity, go out, make a change in her dismount, but still be able to compete in the Olympics and end her Olympics on that note.”

This was, for both of them, a high note.

They wanted to make that clear.

Black was also forced to withdraw from the allaround final, hoping a week of rest and intense physio on her sprained ankle — an injury that she reaggravated after arriving in Tokyo — would at least give her a chance to climb aboard the beam.

Like Biles, she scrapped her usual dismount because “my ankle wouldn’t be able to handle that at this point.”

“Training five years for this Olympics and for it to not go the way I wanted, it’s heartbreaking in a sense,” Black said. “But that being said, there have been so many great things over the last five years. Ending it like this is still a great thing for me, even though it’s a little bit bittersweet. I’m still very, very proud of myself for accomplishing that. Fourth in the world is something very respectable.”

Indeed, it is. It’s also the best-ever finish by a Canadian female gymnast in an individual event on this celebrated stage. Black already owned that record thanks to her fifth-place showing in the all-around at Rio in 2016.

The 25-year-old from Halifax was first called to the beam Tuesday, earning a score of 13.866. She burst into tears afterward as she hugged her coach David Kikuchi, the emotion of the past week spilling out.

The 24-year-old Biles didn’t win the six medals so many were expecting, but she made history nonetheless, bringing to the front pages an important conversation about the pressures and mental-health challenges athletes face. She revealed her aunt also died unexpectedly last week.

She insisted then the result didn’t and wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t about adding a seventh Olympic medal to her incredible career haul.

“I did it for me,” Biles said. “Just to have the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games meant the world. Because training for five years and coming here, then kind of being triggered and not being able to do anything, it wasn’t fun.”

This, however, was a positive ending.

For both the third- and fourth-place finisher.

“I’m not going to lie, it was a really, really tough week,” Black said, again fighting back tears. “We did physio three times a day. I did contrast (therapy) .... And I didn’t even know if that would all pay off.

“So being able to compete, I couldn’t ask for anything else other than that. I just wanted to try my best and I’m really happy with it. Obviously fourth is hard, but I could have not been able to compete. I’m really proud.”