Breaking makes Olympic debut as Japan's Ami takes women's gold

Japan's b-girl Ami won gold at the Olympics' first breaking event by spinning, flipping and toprocking past a field of 16 dancers Friday in a high-energy competition that may not return for future Games.

Ami, legally named Ami Yuasa, won all three rounds in a battle against b-girl Nicka (Dominika Banevič) from Lithuania to clinch the gold, wrapping up a long day of flow, rhythm and skill at Place de la Concorde stadium. 

B-girls stunned the crowd with power moves like headspins, windmills and backflips. Fans remained energetic throughout the evening, which began in the afternoon and ended just before 10 p.m. 

"Now a lot of people outside the breaking scene have seen it and it will only grow from here," b-girl Nicka said.
Beginning in the quarterfinals phase, eight b-girls from the original 17 squared off in knockout battles of three rounds each to narrow down to the finals. Banevič won the silver medal, and China's b-girl 671 (Liu Qingyi) took the bronze after battling with b-girl India (India Sardjo) from the Netherlands to "Boom!" by The Roots. Liu is a relative newcomer to the breaking scene. 

A panel of nine judges, all b-boys and b-girls in their own right from around the world, scored the breakers based on the Trivium judging system: on technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality and originality - each accounts for 20 per cent of the final score. 

Each of the b-girls began by catching the beat as they danced while on their feet - a series called "toprocking" - before launching into their footwork moves on the floor. The soundtrack to their routines was a surprise for each of them, as two DJs spun records on a turntable set up behind the judges.

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