Yahoo Sports Breaking Is the New Olympic Sport for 2024—Here’s What You Need to Know
Harry How/Getty Images/Amanda K Bailey
When you heard that a sport called breaking was making its debut at the Paris Games, your first thought might’ve been, What’s that? In fact, you probably know it by another name: breakdancing, a.k.a. busting out flips, handstands, headspins, and other tough moves to hip-hop songs. Now, four years after the sport was first featured at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, it will come to the bona fide Olympic stage for the first time in Paris.
Since breaking is a whole new Olympic sport—and because you might not be familiar with it to begin with—you probably have a lot of questions. For all the important intel like when and where competition will take place, how it’ll be scored, and what performers will be battling it out, keep on reading. And get psyched to catch lots of brand-new action at the Paris Games.
First off, what exactly is breaking?
The Olympics organization describes breaking as an urban style of dance rooted in hip hop culture. (In fact, breaking isn’t just a dance style, either: It’s one of the four pillars of hip-hop, along with DJ’ing, MC’ing, and graffiti.) It originated in the 1970s in the Bronx and later expanded internationally, with the first global breaking competitions held in the 1990s.
It’s essentially a dance-off-style competition where athletes showcase a combo of acrobatic moves, fancy footwork, and stylized improv. A big component of breaking competitions is the DJ, who is in charge of the music. Athletes must adapt their dance moves on the fly to whatever beat the DJ drops, which brings an element of novelty and surprise to each showdown.
What are B-boys and B-girls?
The terms B-boys and B-girls refer to the breaking performers themselves—male and female performers, respectively. The appropriate title can be used before a performer’s stage name—as in “B-girl Logistx hopes to medal at the Paris Games.” But you can also use the gender-neutral “breaker” instead.
How is breaking scored?
Breaking competitions involve athletes going up against each other in a one-on-one battle format. Basically, they take turns performing their moves in what’s known as a throw down. These are brief—roughly 60 seconds—and each athlete usually executes about two to five of them in a competition.
Dancers perform three types of movements: top rock (standing moves), down rock (floor moves), and freeze (held poses).
A panel of judges, who are usually breakdancers themselves, evaluates the throw downs and rates them on six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity, and musicality. After every round, the judges share their scores. In the end, the dancer with the most points wins.
At the 2024 Games, 16 B-boys and 16 B-girls from around the world will compete for medals, with separate competitions held for the men and women.
Who’s competing in breaking at its very first Olympics?
Out of the 32 total athletes competing, four dancers (two men and two women) are from the US. They include Victor Montalvo, Jeffrey Louis, Sunny Choi, and Logan Edra.
Montalvo, the current highest-ranking American male breaker in the world, is a 30-year-old from Kissimmee, Florida. B-boy Victor started breaking thanks to his dad and uncle, early promoters of the sport who helped popularize it in Mexico starting nearly 40 years ago, per Team USA.
A 29-year-old Houstonian who goes by B-boy Jeffro, Louis learned the ABCs of breaking from his older brother as a preteen, according to Team USA. He’s since combined his breaking experience with a degree in sports kinesiology to launch his own fitness program, FitBreak.
Choi, a 35-year-old breaker from Queens who goes by B-girl Sunny, got her start as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the school’s club, as her Team USA bio details. In 2012, she started competing internationally, and last year she became the first American woman breakdancer to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
And last but not least is Edra, a 21-year-old California native who now lives in Florida. Edra, who’s known as Logistx on the dance floor, started breaking at the age of seven when her dad, a former breaker himself, tricked her into taking a dance class, as she told Olympics.com. Her biggest victory to date came in November 2021, when she beat Russian opponent Vavi at the Red Bull BC One World Final in Poland to be crowned the new world champion.
When can I watch breaking debut at the Games?
Pretty soon! In fact, it’ll kick off later this week. The women’s competition will be held Friday, August 9, and the men’s will follow on Saturday, August 10, with the closing ceremonies happening the very next day. Both the women’s and men’s events will take place at La Concorde, an urban park in the heart of Paris that’s doubling as an Olympic venue. As for how to watch? Check out our handy guide for everything you need to know about tuning in.
SELF is your one-click source for all things Summer Olympics. Read our latest coverage of the Paris Games here.
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Originally Appeared on SELF
