While you heard {that a} sport referred to as breaking was making its debut on the Paris Video games, your first thought would possibly’ve been, What’s that? In actual fact, you in all probability understand it by one other identify: breakdancing, a.ok.a. busting out flips, handstands, headspins, and different robust strikes to hip-hop songs. Now, 4 years after the game was first featured on the 2018 Summer time Youth Olympic Video games in Buenos Aires, it would come to the bona fide Olympic stage for the primary time in Paris.
Since breaking is an entire new Olympic sport—and since you won’t be acquainted with it to start with—you in all probability have numerous questions. For all of the essential intel like when and the place competitors will happen, the way it’ll be scored, and what performers will likely be battling it out, carry on studying. And get psyched to catch a number of brand-new motion on the Paris Video games.
First off, what precisely is breaking?
The Olympics group describes breaking as an city model of dance rooted in hip hop tradition. (In actual fact, breaking isn’t simply a dance model, both: It’s one of many 4 pillars of hip-hop, together with DJ’ing, MC’ing, and graffiti.) It originated within the Seventies within the Bronx and later expanded internationally, with the primary international breaking competitions held within the Nineteen Nineties.
It’s primarily a dance-off-style competitors the place athletes showcase a combo of acrobatic strikes, fancy footwork, and stylized improv. An enormous part of breaking competitions is the DJ, who’s in command of the music. Athletes should adapt their dance strikes on the fly to no matter beat the DJ drops, which brings a component of novelty and shock to every showdown.
What are B-boys and B-girls?
The phrases B-boys and B-girls check with the breaking performers themselves—female and male performers, respectively. The suitable title can be utilized earlier than a performer’s stage identify—as in “B-girl Logistx hopes to medal on the Paris Video games.” However it’s also possible to use the gender-neutral “breaker” as an alternative.
How is breaking scored?
Breaking competitions contain athletes going up in opposition to one another in a one-on-one battle format. Mainly, they take turns performing their strikes in what’s often called a throw down. These are transient—roughly 60 seconds—and every athlete often executes about two to 5 of them in a contest.
Dancers carry out three varieties of actions: high rock (standing strikes), down rock (ground strikes), and freeze (held poses).
A panel of judges, who’re often breakdancers themselves, evaluates the throw downs and charges them on six standards: creativity, character, method, selection, performativity, and musicality. After each spherical, the judges share their scores. In the long run, the dancer with essentially the most factors wins.
On the 2024 Video games, 16 B-boys and 16 B-girls from world wide will compete for medals, with separate competitions held for the women and men.
Who’s competing in breaking at its very first Olympics?
Out of the 32 whole athletes competing, 4 dancers (two males and two ladies) are from the US. They embody Victor Montalvo, Jeffrey Louis, Sunny Choi, and Logan Edra.