"We've been watching the Olympics since we were little, and I thought there was nothing cooler in the world - not only in sports, but in general. We were rooting for every Lithuanian athlete, we celebrated all Lithuanian victories in the championships", - European and world break champion Dominika Banevič, known in the sports community as B-Girl Nicka, who became its ambassador, shared this attitude towards her country during the photo session of the national clothing collection.
The athlete, who has been break dancing since the age of 8 and has already won world laurels, says that it is very important for her to see the tricolor of Lithuania rising during the awards. Other national symbols are also important to her, so the Audimas national clothing collection, inspired by the victories in Sydney, is close by and is intended for true fans.
"I was born in Lithuania and I want to make my country famous all over the world, I want it to be known and respected. I am very pleased when people from, for example, Japan come to one or another championship and say that because of me they started watching documentaries about Lithuania, to take a deeper interest in it," said D. Banevič.
The champion and her mother, who travel together to all performances, even have their own patriotic tradition: they carry and distribute Lithuanian sweets everywhere. They have already managed to circle the whole world.
However, promoting the name of Lithuania is not the only mission of the ambassador of the Audimas national collection.
"I want break to be as famous and popular as basketball in Lithuania. I consider this one of my goals. I can already see that significantly more children and teenagers have started to learn to dance, and non-dancers want to watch the performances.
For example, in the past, when we organized break championships in Lithuania, we gathered only ourselves - the community. We supported and congratulated each other. But now I hear that a lot of people outside the break community want to watch the upcoming championship. It's amazing," B-Girl Nicka shared.
According to her, this sport is much more popular abroad, not only among dancers, but also receives much more support. In Lithuania, he was almost forgotten for a long time.
"Before I won either the European or the World Championships, most of my supporters were from abroad: other dancers, the break community. Also, people who have seen me dance and felt my energy.
The victories in the championships, of course, changed everything: already after the European championship, Lithuanians started congratulating me, and after winning the world championship, I received a lot of messages and congratulations from both peers and adults. Today, in Lithuania, the break really arouses interest, people come to say hello right on the street", said the athlete.
However, the most important support and congratulations to Dominika remained from the people closest to her.
"The most important thing, of course, is my mother, with whom we go everywhere together and who believed in me from the first days. I also really appreciate the support, comments or evaluations from two or three people who are very close to me, with whom we have been training for many years, who know how much I had to go through. And the congratulations from the grandmother are also very pleasing: it may be difficult for her to understand such a modern sport, but she is always happy. This is very important for me," said the break champion.
