B-Girl Ami - Breaking Gold Medallist Interview
On August 9th, Japanese B-Girl Ami, made history as the first B-Girl to ever win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. With a high-level line up of 16 of the best B-Girls in the world, when it was all over Ami stood victorious off the back of her classic, sharp, smooth breaking style, and claimed the prestigious first place podium spot.
We sat down with the new Olympic breaking champion to find out Ami’s thoughts and feelings on making history and displaying breaking to the world.
How does it feel to be an Olympic gold medallist?
AMI: I still can’t believe that I actually got the gold medal. Of course I worked hard but I know everybody was working hard, so I didn’t expect that I could actually win, but I think this was a good mindset because it allowed me to focus in every round, instead of thinking about winning the medal. I think that’s why I could enjoy the stage and get the win.
To get to the Olympics was so hard, there could only be two B-Girls from each country and B-Girl Riko was right behind me and Ayumi, so for me I thought of this as more like a gift that I got because of all the support. I didn’t really care about the result I just wanted to show my best on the stage.
How did the Olympic competition feel compared to cultural breaking events?
AMI: I think it was really good but when I first saw the venue I was a little bit afraid because it was so huge. I also didn’t expect that many people to actually come and watch the breaking, because this was the first time for it to be in the Olympics. Breaking already has a lot of fans but in the sports world it is still very small which is why I didn’t expect so many people to come, and was so surprised it sold out. Especially for the top 16 as the audience usually fills up for the top 8, so I was happy that so many people came to also watch the round robin. And I really liked the energy given from the audience, it was so much that even though the venue was huge and outside, there was a lot of energy on the stage.
One thing I felt different from a cultural breaking jam was what things the audience reacted to. Usually, at a smaller breaking jam, B-Boys and B-Girls come to watch, but not really the public. Because of this the audience are usually people who clap for cool, small details. But here many people were cheering for the big moves so that felt a little confusing for me because I would do my top rock and footwork but it was when I did my power moves that everyone cheered. I don’t think that was a bad thing, though, because so many people had come to watch breaking for the first time, so even though it was different I enjoyed it.
And also, because it was the Olympics, many people were supporting their country athletes but even if breakers were from other countries, if they were friends, they still supported each other and cheered each other up, the same like at a breaking jam. I saw B-Girl Pauline had my face board and I thought, “thank you Pauline.” We still support each other no matter the country, and that’s one of the good parts of breaking that I could still see at the Olympics. I was really happy about this.
How was it for you to have your family with you at the Olympics?
AMI: My mum, dad and sister came, and I was so happy about it. My dad usually cannot come aboard to watch my battles because he has a full-time job, but because it was the Olympics he could say, “my daughter is going to go to the Olympics so I’m going to get time off.” My mum comes to watch me battle in Japan sometimes but she usually doesn’t come to watch my solo battles because she doesn’t want to get nervous. My mum usually gets more nervous than me but this time she said whatever happens she doesn’t care about the result, she just wanted to see me having fun on the stage.
I really think that if my family wasn’t there watching I wouldn’t have won, because I was nervous but when I saw my family cheering me on, and saw my dad and mum holding the Japanese flag, that made me calm, and so I don’t think I could have got the gold medal if my parents did come to watch me battle.
How was it being amongst the other Olympic athletes?
AMI: Breakers are very different, you know. With all the other athletes, especially the Japanese athletes, everyone was wearing the uniform the correct way and looked so sensible, but breakers aren’t like this. We look so different in how we carry ourselves, but the thing we did at the Olympics is the same. The effort we all put in was so big, and we all represented Japan here, so for me it was an honour to represent Japan with them. But the skaters and BMX guys, they’re the same as us in the way they carry themselves.
What message would you say to the world now that they’ve finally seen breaking on the big Olympic stage?
AMI: I want to say to the world that of course this was a big competition and everyone saw the result, but I want people to focus on each individual B-Boy and B-Girl because we have all different personalities and moves, and that’s the beautiful part of breaking. I think its fine that in the beginning some people have a different reason to watch breaking. If me getting a gold medal is why some Japanese people want to watch breaking, in the beginning that’s fine but after that I want people to not just see me but to watch each B-Boy and each B-Girl to see the difference. I want them to see who their favourite B-Boy and B-Girl is, and stuff like that, because breaking is not all about the result it’s more about the expression and conversation, and I want people to see that.
Follow B-Girl Ami on Instagram.
Photos by Little Shao
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