Hip-hop heads, rejoice! A year after hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary, breaking will be officially recognized at the Olympics. Breaking has already had a massive international grip, with competitions taking place across the world. But this year, breakers will be able to go head-to-head on the biggest stage possible.
The competition will be divided into two groups, one for men and one for women, with 16 competitors each. These will be solo battles, and each athlete must use an array of power moves, including windmills, the 6-step, and freezes. A DJ will be spinning music, and each athlete must adapt to the beat changes, switching their style up accordingly, to try and secure the gold for the inaugural breaking competition at the 2024 Olympics.
Though this marks the first time the sport will be introduced into the Summer Olympics, breaking previously appeared at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018. It gained enough momentum over the years for the Olympics, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Victor Montalvo, aka B-Boy Victor, will be leading Team USA for the men, and Sunny Choi, aka B-Girl Sunny, for the women. Montalvo earned his quota following his win at 2023 WDSF World Championship, while B-Girl Sunny secured her spot at Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. There’s going to be some stiff competition, so it will be a must-watch event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Competitors will compete in one-on-one battles where they will be judged on five criteria: technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality, and originality, according to the Olympics website. The first gold medal event will take place on Aug. 9.
