FILE PHOTO: Breaking - WDSF World Breaking Championship 2023 - Leuven, Belgium - September 24, 2023 Lithuania's Dominika Banevic in action during the final REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuanian Dominika Banevic, 17, is confident of winning the gold medal in breaking’s Olympic debut in Paris, despite her young age and coming from a country with no tradition in the sport.
Banevic, who won the 2023 world title in Belgium, is ranked world number three.
"Breakdancing is special because age is not very important. You can be 12, 16 or 25 – the only thing important is how well you can dance," Banevic told Reuters in her studio on the outskirts of Vilnius where she trains six hours every day.
"My biggest dream is the Olympic medal - a gold one (would be nice), but any medal is important," she added.
Paris could end up being the only Olympics to award breaking medals. Los Angeles has said the sport will not be part of the Games programme in 2028 and it is unlikely to return in Brisbane in 2032.
Banevic was nine when she set herself the goal of becoming the best in the world.
She has been training on her own since she was 11 years old, when her first coach retired.
“The decision (to train alone) came naturally, I knew I want to devote all my life to breakdancing, I already knew the basics and I was at the level where I could begin creating my own moves. This helped me craft my own unique style," Banevic said.
She creates her routines by improvising to her favourite music, examines the footage of herself dancing and asks for advice of her breaking friends around the world.
"The moves come out of nowhere," Banevic said. "Then comes the gruelling work of honing the new moves, which are often physically demanding."
Working from Lithuania, a Baltic nation of 2.9 million people, Banevic started off by watching documentaries about the hiphop culture of early 1980s New York.
"I was actually pushed forward by the fact that I am from Lithuania, a small country. This meant that I needed to try even more to prove (myself)," she said.
"Knowing history is important, but more important is to move forward, to create your own original moves," said Banevic.
She says her biggest reward is hearing that her example has inspired others to take up breaking.
"I used to think about winning a lot, but now I just try to enjoy the process. And when you do that, winning comes naturally," Banevic added.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, editing by Ed Osmond)
