Breakdancing competitions at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

ran from 9 to 10August at Place de la Concorde, marking the sport's official debut in the program and the first dancesport discipline to appear in Summer Olympic history. Following its successful debut at the

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held ...

in Buenos Aires, breaking was confirmed as one of the three additional sports, along with

sport climbing Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors to ...

and

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

, approved for Paris 2024. The competition saw a total of thirty-three breakers (sixteen b-boys and seventeen b-girls) staged in face-to-face single battles. IOC president Thomas Bach stated that breaking was added as part of an effort to draw more interest from young people in the Olympics.

Inclusion

Breaking was introduced at the

in Paris as an optional (temporary) sport. Despite the United States being the birthplace of breakdancing, the sport is set not to be included at the

2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...

in Los Angeles; on its omittance in the latter, the IOC's sports director Kit McConnell stated that "It's up to each local organizing committee to determine which dditionalsports to put forward that fit with their vision of the

Games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. Obviously, breaking fit very clearly with Paris's vision of a very youth-focused urban engagement." For LA 2028, baseball, softball,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, flag football, lacrosse, and squash were approved. World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), the sport's governing body, was cited as working toward ensuring breaking's inclusion at the

2032 Summer Olympics The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032, will be an international multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featu ...

in Brisbane.

Competition format

The breaking competition comprised two gender-based medal events (one for men and the other for women) where sixteen B-Boys and sixteen B-Girls competed against each other. The competition began with a round robin stage. The 16 breakers were split in four groups and danced against the others in their group for a minute each. The two best breakers from each group progressed to the

knockout stage A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, where breakers were eliminated from the competition after losing a one-on-one match.

Scoring

The winner was determined by a panel of nine judges, who scored each battle based on five criteria each worth a fifth of the point maximum. The criteria were: * Technique: The correct execution of moves, as well as athleticism, body control, dynamics, space control, form, lines and shape. * Vocabulary: The number and variety of moves. A high score requires a diverse set of moves in multiple positions. Moves are grouped into toprock (dance elements executed while standing), downrock (spinning on the floor, combined with footwork, drops and transitions) and freeze (a stop in an acrobatic position). * Execution: The clean performance of moves, and the distinction of moves from one another so that they flow, but not blend, into another. * Musicality: How well the breaker reacts to and expresses the music, which is provided by a tournament staff DJ and not known to the breakers before the match. * Originality: How the breaker "wows" the audience by making the dance their own.

Qualification

A total of 32 quota places (sixteen each for B-Girls and B-Boys) were available for eligible dancers to compete for the inaugural medals in breaking. NOCs could enter a maximum of four breakers (two per gender) across two medal events. Over eighty percent of the total quota was attributed to a large number of breakers through a tripartite qualification route. First, the 2023 WDSF World Championships, scheduled for 23 to 24 September in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, Belgium, awarded the B-Boy and B-Girl champion with a direct quota place for Paris 2024. Second, a quintet of spots were assigned to the highest-ranked eligible breakers (one B-Boy and one B-Girl) competing in each of the designated continental meets (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania), respecting the two-member NOC limit. The remaining breakers were provided the final opportunity to book their slots for Paris 2024 through a four-month-long Olympic Qualifier Series, held between March and June 2024 in various locations worldwide. The host nation France reserved a spot each for a B-Boy and a B-Girl in their respective breaking events, while four more places (two per gender) were entitled to the eligible NOCs interested to have their breakers compete for Paris 2024 through a Universality invitation. To be registered for a spot according to the criteria of the universality principle, breakers must have finished within the top 32 of their respective events in the final rankings of the four-month-long Olympic Qualifier Series.

Competition schedule

Medal summary

Medal table

Medalists

The winners were as follows:

Controversy

The event was somewhat overshadowed and marred by the controversy generated on social media over Australian breaker Rachael Gunn's performance and choice of clothing, including an extended period of online bullying after misinformation was spread about the selection process.

References

{{Breaking at the Summer Olympics

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