Sultans of spin: the Japanese breakdancers busting Olympic moves

For Japanese breakdancer Shigeyuki Nakarai, the prospect of winning a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics has become something of an obsession.

The proposal by Paris organisers in February to include the street dance lit a fire under the 17-year-old, aka Shigekix, who took bronze at last year's Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

"I still have a lot of regrets at failing to win gold," he told AFP after showing off some crazy-legs breaking moves in the shadow of Tokyo Bay's Rainbow Bridge.

"I've thought about that night every day since," added the snake-hipped b-boy from Osaka, dressed in blue jeans and a baggy white T-shirt.

"But my time will come -- at the 2024 Olympics I'll be trying to turn this frustration into positive energy."
"In a face-to-face battle the plan is to knock your opponent out."
He added: "But breakdancing is also like a game of poker -- you have to calculate the level of risk you need to take to get the win."
- 'Wild Style' -
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"For me it's a culture, a lifestyle, it's all I do. When I was small it blew me away seeing people spinning on their heads. I wanted to be just like them."
"All I'm thinking about is kicking my opponent's butt."
"I would love to win that first gold medal."
- Scrapes and bruises -
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"You can pull your hair out too -- but if I start going bald, I'll quit!"
"It's amazing to think it could become an Olympic sport. If I get the chance to compete for the gold medal, I'll go for it."