B-Boy Dany Dann - Breaking Silver Medallist Interview
At breaking’s debut at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, B-Boy Dany Dann, from France, earned a silver medal in front of his roaring home country crowd. Every time Dany stepped onto the floor his French fans cheered with pride, and with their enormous support he did his country proud.
We asked Dany Dann some questions to see how the French silver medallist was feeling about being a part of history.
How special does it feel to have won an Olympic silver medal in your home country of France?
DANY: I didn’t really realise what I had achieved until now, but I can see that the French breaking scene is really happy that I achieved this silver medal.
How important was it to have authentic breaking music for the battles at the Olympics?
DANY: It was so much better to have that, as we didn’t have it at the qualification events the last two years because of music copyright laws. As breakers, we’ve practiced for a long time listening to the classic music of breaking and this is what gives us the motivation and good feeling to be a good B-Boy or B-Girl.
You suffered a bad ankle injury before the Olympics, how does it feel to comeback from that injury and win silver?
DANY: It was hard because I got injured two months before the Olympic Games, but I had spent too many years training to be a part of history to stop because of an injury. Thank God I have people around me, like the French team and my family, who all tried to keep me motivated. Especially when I got stressed a lot from seeing the other competitors putting up videos of themselves practising and feeling good, as they prepared for the battles to come.
Which one of your battles was your favourite, and why?
DANY: One of my best battles was against Kuzya, as I felt more confident, and I had the pressure that I had to win. If Kuzya had won one round from me, I would not have qualified to enter the top 8.
My battle with Jeffro was one of my favourites because he is my favourite B-Boy as he is like me, always breaking with musicality and character, which makes him dangerous in battles. But he is also a nice guy.
And finally, my battle with Victor because we’ve never actually battled each other, and everybody knows that Victor is a beast.
What's the most important lesson(s) you learned along this whole Olympic journey?
DANY: I learned fromevery French Olympian athlete who told me to enjoy the moment, believe in myself, and that the best thing for me to do was to try and destroy everyone with my smile and my personality.
What are your final thoughts on the whole event and achieving history in France?
DANY: It was crazy and amazing because I felt the crowd push me and give me so much energy. This, along with the music, made me do my stuff as a B-Boy. The crowd gave me the energy that made me keep going, even when I was tired for the final after the second round the crowd’s support once again made me say, “let’s go get it!” It was awesome.
The level of the line up for the top 16 B-Boys was super high and I thought, “if I get to the final, it will be crazy!” And then I passed the round robin, then battled my friend, Jeffro, and then battled Victor, another USA guy, but I said to myself, “let’s go,” again. Then, in the final, I just told myself “Don’t care, just go and do your thing, the crowd and the music is going to give you what you need.” I had fun on that stage with Phil Wizard, in the final, and I’m so happy for him winning the gold. I’ve got the silver, the first breaker ever to be an Olympic silver medallist. And for the breaking scene, we showed the people and the world that we are athletes but also that we are dancers first. I’m just so happy to be the first breaking silver medallist from France.
Photos by Little Shao
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