Breakdancing goes as far back as the start of hip-hop music in the Bronx. It was created alongside hip-hop music to help people express their emotions and what they were dealing with in their neighborhoods. It made its way into several different cultures from Blacks to Puerto Ricans and many more. The effect that breakdancing had in the 70s still has the same effect today, in 2020, for those dancers.
Now, the culture will be officially apart of the Paris Olympics in 2024, which will be called breaking. According to Pitchfork, the legendary movement sparked competitions in the 80s that incorporated acrobatic features and athleticism, making it perfect for the Olympics.
The President of the World DanceSport Federation, Shawn Tay said, “The WDSF could not be prouder to have breaking included at Paris 2024, and we thank everyone who helped make it possible: the executive board of the IOC, the Paris 2024 organizers, the WDSF staff and, most importantly, the breaking community itself.”
The breaking competition will consist of 16 B-boys and 16 B-girls that will compete in a one on one battle for the medal.
The organizers for the Olympics had proposed the idea back in 2019. They wanted to extend to the younger generations and focus on gender-balances and “urban” communities, according to a CNN report in 2019. However, breakdancing made its first appearance in 2018 at the Argentina Youth Olympics, but it wasn’t included in the full program of the Adult Olympics. A Russian B-boy took the gold medal home that year.
Some of the other sports that are approved to be a part of the 2024 Olympics are surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing. These were also proposed in 2019.
