B-girl Ram shrugs off injury to strike gold - twice! - at Youth Olympic Games
Photos: (1-3) Owen Hammond for WDSF; (2) Kate Green for OIS/IOC
B-girl Ram of Japan wrote herself into the history books at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games this week after winning her second gold medal of the competition on 11 October with partner B4 (VIE) in the Bonnie & Clyde 2vs2 event.
Ram, who also topped the 1vs1 podium earlier in the week, was an unstoppable force at Breaking’s debut at the Olympic event. Paired with B4, the two finished third in the preliminaries before stepping it up a notch in the knockout phase, doing just enough to dispose of Anastasia (LAT) & Shigekix (JPN) in the quarterfinals before cruising past Vicky (NED) & Bad Matty (ITA) in the semis. The golden duo defeated b-girl Lexy (ITA) & b-boy Broly (ARG) in the final.
“I’m a bit shocked,” Ram, 17, said of her golden double. “To have finished first in both events is really surprising.”
It was all the more surprising to have done it with a bum shoulder, something that impressed judge b-boy Mounir.
“I didn’t know if they could fight back (after falling behind 2-0) because I could see that she was really sad and upset because she was injured and couldn’t give it everything she had,” Mounir said. “But then she found the strength, and that’s the magic of the Olympics. It puts you out of your comfort zone and you really have to push your limits, and now she’s going home with two gold medals.
“I was really proud of their performance, especially B4. I think it means a lot for him to bring home a gold medal.”
Local b-boy Broly, together with b-girl Lexy, had the crowd solidly behind them throughout but in the end fell just short and had to settle for silver. Still, there were nothing but smiles from the runners-up after the battle.
“I am filled with happiness, pride and emotion for how well we defended ourselves with Lexy to get the medal,” Broly said. “Buenos Aires 2018 is a dream come true. It’s the best thing that has ever happened to me because I got to know different cultures and I grew a lot as a person.”
The event’s other big winner, b-boy Bumblebee of Russia, took bronze in the 2vs2 battles with partner Ella from Austria. Bumblebee was crowned individual b-boy champion on 8 October.
Also appearing in the Knockout Stage were Yell (KOR) & Jordan (RSA), Señorita Carlota (FRA) & X-Rain (CHN) and B-girl Emma (CAN) & B-boy KennyG (TPE).
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