By Sean Miyaguchi,
Japan's Ami Yuasa flared, shuffled and spun her way to the inaugural Olympic breaking title Friday as the dance sport made its Summer Games debut in Paris.
The 25-year-old, known to fans and fellow breakers as B-girl Ami, claimed the first women's gold in the sport, often referred to as breakdancing, by winning a series of one-on-one battles culminating with a 3-0 victory over Lithuania's Nicka in the final.
China's 671 took bronze after beating India of the Netherlands in the third-place dance off at the La Concorde urban sports complex.
"It hasn't quite sunk in yet," Yuasa said. "I'm supposed to be feeling really happy and possibly crying in joy but it feels like I haven't come back down to earth."
Held in the same arena that hosted 3x3 basketball earlier in the games, the competition kept with breaking's hip-hop roots by having MCs hype up the crowd and DJs provide the soundtrack for the B-girls performing under stage names.
After rapper Snoop Dogg opened proceedings, the 16 competitors faced off in groups of four to whittle the field down to eight quarterfinalists.
The B-girls, who had no prior knowledge of their accompanying music, exhibited dynamic "power moves," such as the spins and flares, as well as upright "top-rocking" dance elements, as the nine judges scrutinized both their execution and interaction with the music.
The knockout-stage battles consisted of dancers performing three rounds each, with the results revealed only after the third and final one. Yuasa lost just one round, to semifinal opponent India, on her way to the championship.
"It was all about how I could display myself," Yuasa said. "I didn't feel the pressure at all and I was able to show my true colors."
Japan's Ayumi Fukushima, a former world champion competing as B-girl Ayumi, was knocked out in the last eight by India, 2-1.
"I had a lot of fun, but I felt like I didn't give it my best in the end," said the 41-year-old Fukushima, who works as an elementary school teacher when not competing. "I want to do my best as I aim toward the next competition."
Breaking was the only new sport added to the Olympic program for Paris, but it has not been included in the initial program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Yuasa, winner of the first women's title at the sport's showpiece Red Bull BC One World Final in 2018, said breaking had changed her life since she first began honing her skills with a group of dancers gathering at night near a train station.
"Breaking is everything," Yuasa said. "Breaking is art, (it can) also be sports, breaking is expression. It's taught me many things. If it wasn't for breaking I wouldn't have traveled here or met my friends."
While the sport's Olympic future is uncertain, the 17-year-old Nicka had no doubt about its value as a Summer Games event.
"I think the Olympics need breaking," said the Lithuanian whose real name is Dominika Banevic. "It is like a breath of fresh air. The whole world saw how wonderful breaking is."
Japan's Shigeyuki Nakarai, competing as B-boy Shigekix, will be among the favorites when the men's breaking competition takes place at La Concorde on Saturday.
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