Dutch windsurfer Kiran Badloe has credited Avatar: The Last Airbender for his gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympic games over the weekend. Badloe had been competing in the RS:X class of windsurfing at the Olympics and also made history as the last ever gold medallist in that class of windsurfing as it is set to be replaced by the IQ Foil come Paris 2024. Badloe went into last Saturday's ten-man final with a 19-point lead over his closest rival, meaning that only a disqualification would have cost him the gold medal, having competed in the previous races with Avatar inspired hair.
Badloe drew inspiration for his hair from Avatar's protagonist Aang, the eponymous last airbender, an individual who can harness the power of the wind, who is also the latest incarnation of the Avatar, an individual capable of mastering all four of the elements and bring balance to the nations of the world. The Last Airbender ran for three seasons from 2005 to 2008 and proved incredibly popular among fans on Nickelodeon, and also received critical acclaim for both its storytelling and the way that it addressed themes of war, death, and genocid,. So great was its popularity that it spawned a sequel series The Legend of Korra in 2014, as well as several novels and comic-books that are still being released.
Badloe sprayed a blue arrow onto his ordinarily blonde hair, imitating the tattoo that Aang has on his head in the show. Speaking to Reuters ahead of Saturday's final, Badloe explained why he drew inspiration from the series. He claimed that just as Aang controls multiple elements, he too "[needs] to be in tune with the wind and in tune with the water and everything around" to achieve success in his sport. He hoped that by channelling the Avatar, it would "hopefully [lead him] to something great". You can read Badloe's full statement and check out the gold medallist's hair below:
"It's about a kid that controls the wind, and he needs to control all different kinds of elements of nature in order to do something great, and I'm doing the same here. I need to be in tune with the wind and in tune with the water and everything around, and hopefully that leads me to something great."
Badloe's homage to Avatar certainly did help him achieve something great, winning gold for Netherlands in windsurfing, the third consecutive victory for the country at the Olympic games in a row. While maybe not on quite the same level as Aang, Badloe's mastery of the wind certainly stood him in good stead throughout his competing races where he won five out of ten, as well as in the final where a number of competitors were disqualified for false starts. Regarding his hair, Badloe added "I have been able to piece something together in these Olympics races, so I think it worked in my favour".
It was announced in 2018 that Netflix would be developing a reimagined live-action remake of The Last Airbender alongside original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko; however in 2020 it was announced that the pair had left the series over creative-differences. The series is reportedly aiming not to white-wash the series, which is steeped in East Asian, Inuit, and Native American culture, with characters reflective of this. While it would certainly be fun if Badloe made a cameo appearance in the show to reflect his homage to the animated series, it would probably be for the best if he didn't so as to best avoid comparisons with M. Night Shyamalan's maligned movie adaptation. Still, it's good to know that Avatar: the Last Airbender still has a special place in the hearts of so many fans, and hopefully Badloe will keep channelling Aang to even greater success.
Source: Reuters
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