B-Girl Olympians: In Their Own Words

After an action-packed first day of Breaking at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, our Olympian B-Girls can be rightly proud of all they achieved.

In total, 17 B-Girls representing 11 countries and the Refugee Olympic Team took part in the first day of competition at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, with Ami (JPN) winning gold, Nicka (LTU) taking silver, and 671 (CHN) claiming bronze.

Check out what a selection of our B-Girls had to say about their Olympic experiences below!

RAYGUN (AUS)

On the appearance of American rapper Snoop Dogg: “We got a selfie with him out back, with him and all the B-Girls. Like, what a wild start to the event, honestly. Yeah, it was crazy going out there.”

SUNNY (USA)

On the Olympic atmosphere: “The crowd was really excited for us to be there. I felt the energy. It was really fun. When I got up there, I was like, this kind of just feels like a really, really big international event. I'm not saying it wasn't epic, but I got up there and just felt comfortable, and it felt very familiar, you know? It didn’t feel too out of our wheelhouse, so it was nice.”

CARLOTA (FRA)

On her mother being in the audience: “It was very important that she was here, because as soon as I started in Breaking, she followed me. She didn’t know anything about Breaking, but she went with me to all the battles. And so, for her to be able to see me perform here, it's a bit like saying, ‘you trusted me with my choices, and we're living it together.’ It's crazy, it’s so good.”

KATE (UKR)

On Breaking’s Olympic debut: “I think it was a great representation of our culture. Hip Hop culture is really bright and great, and I’m really happy to see such a change to add such new artistic sports. I’m just very grateful and happy that I’m here and I’m able to make history with other athletes.”

AMI (JPN)

On her overall experience at Paris 2024: “I loved it.”

NICKA (LTU)

On being a silver medallist: “I am so happy right now, not because I just won a silver medal, but because I enjoyed it so much. I missed (competing) so much, and finally I am here, and I was able to do my best the whole day.”

671 (CHN)

On winning bronze: “I need to accept the result that I won the bronze medal, and I’m quite happy. I just hope I can learn from this experience. I'm also very happy that I was able to participate in the Olympics and win a medal, so thanks to my country.”

LOGISTIX (USA)

On leveraging the Olympic reach: “I would like to see more spaces where kids from anywhere, any community, have access to Hip Hop, have access to a safe space to learn about art, to get into something that they love to do. More healthy outlets for kids of colour, straight up, something that we can resonate with, you know, because not everyone wants to do the traditional sports … Hip Hop is something special, and it’s something that the world needs and something that kids need, because I couldn’t think of anything else that would have gotten me through the (stuff) that I went through as a kid.”

INDIA (NED)

On the future of Breaking post Paris 2024: “I think it will only grow from here. I mean, now a lot of people outside of the Breaking scene saw Breaking, and I think it will only increase more and more from now on.”

India 671.jpg

Photos by Little Shao

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Published on 9 August 2024