Japan's B-Girl Ami Wins First-Ever Breaking Gold Medal

A first for the Summer Olympics.
B-Girl Ami of Team Japan competes with B-Girl India of Team Netherlands (not pictured) during the Breaking B-Girls Quarterfinal 1 battle on day fourteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Place de la Concorde on August 09, 2024 in Paris, France
B-Girl Ami of Team Japan competes with B-Girl India of Team Netherlands (not pictured) during the Breaking B-Girls Quarterfinal 1 battle on day fourteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Place de la Concorde on August 09, 2024 in Paris, France / (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Breaking made its debut at the Olympics this year, and Friday brought the first-ever medal ceremony.

Japan's Ami Yuasa, named B-Girl Ami for the competition, took home gold and the honor of being the first breaker to ever earn an Olympic medal. She did so with a very entertaining routine in the final against Lithuania's Dominika Banevič, A.K.A B-Girl Nicka.

Adorned in a pink sweatsuit and white flatbrim, Ami's routine was ruled best by the panel of judges. The scores are based off a variety of factors, including creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality.

It's always exciting when an athlete earns the first gold medal an event has ever given out. And with breaking, it may very well be the last. Breaking is not going to be part of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, so this year's event in Paris could be the last time we all collectively enjoy breaking on the biggest stage.

With Ami taking home gold, Nicka earned silver and China's Q.G. Liu, A.K.A. B-Girl 671, placed bronze.

The men's event for breaking will take place on Saturday, where more medals will be handed out.

Not every day the audience enjoys a true Olympic first. This definitely qualifies.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.