Joe McConnell
Afghan athlete Manizha Talash unveiled the words “Liberate the Women of Afghanistan” on her cape during her Olympic breaking routine during pre-qualification in Paris on Friday.
Talash, originally from Kabul but living in Spain, is one of 37 athletes competing for the refugee team at the Olympics.
When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they banned women from universities, public parks and sports venues and raided the homes of female athletes.
Talash fled Afghanistan with her 12-year-old brother when the arrival of the Taliban forced her to close her breakdancing club.
“I wanted to show people what is possible,” Talash said in a brief media interview after receiving a roar of approval from the packed crowd at Urban Park.
Dutch B-girl India Sardjo was the first to break on the Olympic stage and performed a series of power moves that unanimously outclassed Talash, qualifying for the competition proper.
Scoring for breaking is based on the Trivium grading system, which evaluates technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality, and originality at 20 percent of each, determining the final score.
The breakout will make its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but was not included in the initial sports program for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Breaking will debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but may not be included during the 2028 Los Angeles Games
Amazing results
Snoop Dogg officially opened the competition with his classic ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’.
Starting from the quarter-final stage, eight of the original 17 b-girls faced off in three-round knockout bouts to reach the final.
Japanese b-girl Ami took gold by performing pirouettes, somersaults and top-rocking, outdoing a group of 16 dancers in a high-intensity competition.
Ami, whose real name is Ami Yuasa, won all three rounds in a battle against Lithuanian b-girl Nicka [Dominika Banevic] to win gold at the Place de la Concorde stadium.
Banevic won the silver medal, while Chinese b-girl 671 [Liu Qingyi] took bronze after fighting with b-girl India [India Sardjo] from the Netherlands.
Both American contestants, b-girl Logistx [Logan Edra] and the b-girl Sunny [Sunny Choi]big favorites for the competition, were eliminated in the first round, which was a hard blow for the country that is the birthplace of hip-hop and breaking culture.
Vscek+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Vscek app, giving Vscek customers access to over 50% more live sport this year, at no extra cost.
