A 74-year-old surfer and master of classical Japanese dance may seem an unlikely candidate for a senior breakdancing troupe, but Kiyoshie Saruwaka said it was a logical step to take her first steps in the sport after it was confirmed for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
As a troubled teenager, Saruwaka fell in love with surfing and wondered why it wasn’t an Olympic sport, until it finally got a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“And now we have the breaking in Paris, and Japan even has a gold medal contender,” said Saruwaka, who once finished second in a local surfing competition and still rides waves for fun, from her home in Tokyo.
