PARIS -- As the evening rain cleared and the sun set behind the Olympic breaking stadium at La Concorde, Japan's B-Girl Ami became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in breaking on Friday. She will likely also be the last. Breaking, a dance style that originated on the streets of the Bronx in New York City during the 1970s, made its Olympic debut in Paris. However, it will not be featured in the Los Angeles Games four years from now. Therefore, Paris 2024 will be the only opportunity for breaking to be part of the Summer Olympics. That made Friday's B-Girls competition one of the most anticipated of the week and turned La Concorde into an absolute party. Here are some highlights from the inaugural event:
Snoop Dogg banged the brigadier to open competition, then sat stageside and cheered on the dancers during the round-robin battles. Before the semifinal stage, the venue announcer asked the DJ to turn up the tunes, then explained breaking's ties to hip-hop music and asked the crowd, which included IOC president Thomas Bach, to raise their hands in the air. Then he led them in a chorus of Naughty By Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray." When he asked them to "Scream!" their response shook the bleachers.
The second semifinal battle between China's B-Girl 671 and Lithuania's 17-year-old B-Girl Nicka, whose real name is Dominika Banevic, was the most electric and heated of the night. But it was 2023 world champion B-Girl Nicka's flamboyant, acrobatic, almost comedic style that sent her to the final. There, she battled Japan's B-Girl Ami, who earlier had knocked France's hope for a medal, B-Girl Syssy, out of the competition.
In the final, both women mixed powerful acrobatics and technical moves with creativity and musicality. With France's B-Girl Syssy out of the battles, there was no clear crowd favorite. Instead, the crowd cheered the best moves of the night. After the battle, the women hyped each other, then met at center stage and hugged. Then came the countdown to the announcement of the winner in a mix of French in English. "Dix ... nine ... eight ..." B-Girl Ami Yuasa won gold. B-Girl Nicka took silver. Earlier, B-Girl India of the Netherlands won the bronze-medal battle and earned the first Olympic medal awarded in Olympic breaking history.
Team USA's B-Girls, Grace "Sunny" Choi and Logistx, did not make it out of the round-robin stage in breaking's debut. B-Girl Logistx, whose real name is Logan Edra, faced a tough draw that included B-Girl Nicka and France's B-Girl Syssy, and finished just outside of the top eight.
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