Oumi Janta (c. 1991[1]) is a German-Senegalese jam skater and influencer.

Half-length portrait of Janta looking directly at the camera
Janta in 2020

Janta was born in Thiès, Senegal and moved to Germany with her parents as an infant.[1][2] She grew up in Steglitz, before moving to Neukölln with her family.[2] As a child, Janta was a fan of figure skating. After studying industrial design at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, she initially worked as an eyewear designer.[3][4] Taking up roller skating to escape ennui in her work, she became part of a community based at Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin.[2][5] Janta was inspired by Surya Bonaly.[3][6]

In 2020, an Instagram video of Janta went viral and was eventually viewed by more than 3 million people.[7] Janta subsequently left her office job to work in skating and other creative areas full-time, founding a Jam Skate Club in Berlin and teaching roller skating to others.[3][5][8] She also works as a model.[9] Janta has been credited with being part of a 2020s revival of interest in roller skating and jam skating.[3][4][9] Interest in the revival has been particularly strong among black women.[10][11]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Adhav, Lauren (2020-10-15). "You'll Wanna Watch Roller Skater Oumi Janta Glide Around in Her Retro Looks Alllll Damn Day". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  2. ^ a b c Rufatto, Gabriel (28 December 2022). "Jam-Skaterin Oumi Janta: Rollschuh-Queen über Nacht" [Jam skater Oumi Janta: roller skating queen overnight] (video). GERMANIA. Produced by Bastian Asdonk. Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ a b c d Fajemisin, Olamiju (2020-12-10). "'I inspired a lot of black women to start rollerskating' – Oumi Janta wants you to dance". gal-dem. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  4. ^ a b Dombrowski, Edyta (2021-05-20). "Rollschuh-Revival: Oumi Janta hat den Hype ums Jamskaten mit ausgelöst!" [Roller skating revival: Oumi Janta helped trigger the jam skating hype!]. Das Fempower-Magazin! (in German). Archived from the original on 2022-09-07. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  5. ^ a b Hubbell, Diana (2020-09-16). "Oumi Janta Is Leading a Skating Revolution in Berlin". Condé Nast Traveler. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  6. ^ Freeman, Liam (2021-06-07). "Meet Oumi Janta, The Viral Roller-Skating Sensation Fronting The New Bottega Veneta Campaign". British Vogue. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  7. ^ Lüder, Charlotte (2021-09-11). "Jam-Skaterin Oumi Janta: Rollen mit der Besten". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  8. ^ "Kölner Treff: Jam-Skaterin Oumi Janta". www.ardmediathek.de (Video). Kölner Treff (in German). 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-09-07. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  9. ^ a b Luckhurst, Phoebe (2020-08-13). "Why 2020 Is The Summer Of Rollerskating". British Vogue. Archived from the original on 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  10. ^ Jeffery, Yasmin (2022-06-02). "Yasmin was scared to try rollerskating on her own, but it ended up the best thing for her". ABC Everyday. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  11. ^ Easter, Makeda (2020-10-26). "How learning to roller skate helped me connect with a piece of L.A. Black culture". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2022-09-06.