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Break Dancing

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Breaking provisionally added for 2024 Olympics

By OlympicTalkJun 25, 2019, 11:59 AM EDT
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Breaking (don’t call it break dancing) was provisionally added to the Olympics for the 2024 Paris Games.

The IOC also announced Tuesday that skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were provisionally added to the 2024 Olympic program. Those three sports will debut at Tokyo 2020 but were not assured places on the Olympic program beyond next year.

“They contribute to making the program more gender balanced and more urban, and offer the opportunity to connect with the younger generation,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a press release. “The proposed sports are in line with these principles and enhance Paris 2024’s overall dynamic Games concept, which focuses on inclusivity, inspiring a new audience and hosting socially responsible Games.”

The IOC Executive Board will make the final decision on the Paris 2024 event program in December 2020, but no more sports can be proposed for inclusion. That means baseball and softball, which return to the Olympics next year, will not be on the 2024 Olympic program. Those sports can still be added for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Breaking debuted at the Youth Olympics last year, where the U.S. did not have any athletes. Sergei “Bumblebee” Chernyshev of Russia and Ramu Kawai of Japan took gold medals.

Breaking had never previously been up for a vote for Olympic inclusion, but the World DanceSport Federation is recognized by the IOC.

Teenagers, some of whom went by nicknames like Bad Matty, Senorita Carlota and KennyG, went head-to-head in dance battles at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires last year. They performed on a mat atop an outdoor basketball court to a musical beat and emcees.

Judges determined winners using six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, perfomativity and musicality.

“Breaking (also called b-boying or b-girling) is an urban dance style,” according to the Youth Olympics. “The urban dance style originated during the mid 1970s in the Bronx borough of New York City.”

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Youth Olympics award first medals in break dancing

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By Nick ZaccardiOct 8, 2018, 4:49 PM EDT
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Let it be known that the first Youth Olympic gold medalists in break dancing are Sergei “Bumblebee” Chernyshev of Russia and Ramu Kawai of Japan.

Teenagers, some of whom went by nicknames like Bad Matty, Senorita Carlota and KennyG, went head-to-head in dance battles in preliminaries on Sunday and quarterfinals, semifinals and finals Monday. They performed on a mat atop an outdoor basketball court to a musical beat and emcees in Buenos Aires.

Judges determined winners using six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, perfomativity and musicality. A mixed-gender team event is set for Wednesday and Thursday.

Bumblebee, dancing in a white track suit with Russian flag colors, won all four rounds against France’s Martin Lejeune. In the girls’ final, the 2018 World Youth champion Kawai swept Canadian Emma Misak in four rounds.

Bronze medals went to Japan’s Shigeyuki “Shigekix” Nakarai and South Korean Kim “Yell” Yeri.

“Breaking (also called b-boying or b-girling) is an urban dance style,” according to the Games’ official website. “The urban dance style originated during the mid 1970s in the Bronx borough of New York City.”

The U.S. did not have a breakdancing entrant. Athletes qualified by submitting videos of themselves online, with the winners being selected for the World Youth Breaking Championships in Japan, where 11 athletes qualified for the Youth Olympics.

The IOC announced in 2016 that break dancing would debut at the Youth Olympics in 2018.

Break dancing has never been up for a vote for Olympic inclusion, but the World DanceSport Federation is recognized by the IOC, the first step toward possible addition to the Olympic Games.

The Youth Olympics, for athletes ages 14 to 18, debuted in Singapore in 2010, followed in 2014 in Nanjing, China. Youth Winter Games were in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012 and Lillehammer, Norway, in 2016.

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Break dancing added for 2018 Youth Olympics

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By Nick ZaccardiDec 6, 2016, 1:26 PM EDT
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The 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires will include every sport on the Summer Olympic program, plus three new medal sports, including break dancing.

Break dancing, kumite (a combat form of karate) and sport climbing are being added for the third edition of the Youth Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday.

Karate and sport climbing were previously added for the 2020 Tokyo Games, but break dancing is not contested at the Olympics.

Some events already on the Youth Olympic program are not part of the Olympic program, such as acrobatic gymnastics, futsal and 3-on-3 basketball.

Also Tuesday, the IOC provisionally recognized the international federations for muay thai and cheerleading, two of 16 sports that applied for recognition.

Sports can’t be added to the Olympics unless their international federations are recognized by the IOC, though neither muay thai nor cheerleading appears close to being added to the Olympic program in the near future.

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