Olympic BBoys & BGirls in 2022 became a reality, the breaking world (also known as breakdancing to the wider public) witnessed big news when breaking was included in the next summer olympic games in Paris 2024. On August 9th and 10th 2024 breaking will take over La Concorde Stadium.
With an average 3-3.5 billion people globally watching the summer olympics.
Naturally this means that this time more than ever people will see what breaking is about for the first time.
This brings massive new opportunities for the existing breaking scene and the breaking generations to come. We’re already seeing changes with the likes of Nike signing new sponsorship deals with many top breakers during the last six months. What Nike does a lot of other major companies will follow.
As can be expected, many people from the current breaking community are both for and against the new changes. The pro community is seeing and recognizing the potential the Olympic inclusion brings to the next generations. The against community is afraid this will turn breaking to a mechanic sport and will strip away the artistic part from the dance. This debate can go on forever, however Paris will happen nevertheless.
Another big topic is the organization behind the Olympic inclusion, the World Dance Sport Federation aka “WDSF”.
It’s an organization based on competitive dance sports such as latin dances, ballroom dances and acrobatic rock and roll. Many people against the olympic movement see this as a threat to breaking, since the organization is of a different background. The pro olympics breakers see that working together with a big global organization is an opportunity to grow.
Is Breaking an Olympic Sport? // THE KNOWLEDGE DROP | BBOY DOJO
The breaking scene is a very versatile community already with different events for both underground dancers and for the ones trying to make it on the big stages. The Olympics will be just one more event for the more mainstream oriented dancers, yet of course it’s impact is bigger than many other ones. Becoming an Olympic BBoy or Bgirl will become is another platform to showcase hard trained skills.
To compete in Paris, many countries have already formed their national breaking teams.
That means hiring proper coaches and finding elite dancers while making them more organized and professional than ever before.
Many are still behind with this progress, since it’s a fairly new way to work for breaking and hip hop. Many countries with their teams are backed by government sports funding now, which enables travel support, support for organizing training camps or even top dancers paid to train to reach medals. This is a dream come true for many professional competitors on the top level.
An interesting thing to follow is how the best of the best prepare for Paris as well. Many already have supportive teams behind them such as coaches, doctors, physical therapists and sports psychologists. The training hours for many top breakers are up to 6-8 hours per day. This adds to the excitement of the final outcomes of the events.
Another big topic of discussion is judging.
The international Olympic Committee has certain standards for all disciplines they include. For now the judging was planned to take place with the Trivium system, a system developed by pioneering breaking scene activists Storm (Battle Squad, GER) and Renegade (UK). It’s a six fader system that seems complicated at the first glance. However, a judges training program has already started and only certified and trained judges are allowed at the world class competitions such as the yearly breaking world championships and the olympics. This makes the judging more coherent on big events.
Is Trivium The Best Judging System? // THE KNOWLEDGE DROP | BBOY DOJO
What can we expect from breaking in Paris 2024 then?
One thing is for sure, a great show for the general public. Breaking is exciting to watch even if you know nothing about it. The judging system will open up what domains are valued when judging, so it’s educational and entertaining at the same time.
Compared to many other traditional disciplines in the Olympics, the dance is very engaging with important aspects such as creativity, expression, battle skills and musicality that will make breaking stand out from the rest of the sports. This small spice of extreme youth is something that the Olympics as a movement needs to be more appealing for the younger generations. It will be seen if the Olympics is something that the breakers need themselves.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ):
Is breaking going to be in the olympics?
Yes, breaking will debut in the Paris 2024 Olympics as a new discipline.
How will breaking work in the olympics?
Breaking will be competed in a battle format with the top 16 breakers both in male (b-boy) and female (b-girls). Female will compete on August 9th and male on August 10th 2024. Top 16 will battle it out until there is only one winner left.
What happened to breaking in the olympics?
Breaking will be featured in the Paris 2024 Olympics. It was already added to the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018. After a very successful inclusion in the Youth Olympic Games, breaking will be featured in adults’ Olympics for the first time.
How is breaking scored?
Breaking is being judged in a comparative way in a battle format. That means that two solo dancers will go against each other
