On Monday, the Olympics announced that breakdancing or “Breaking” will now be a competitive sport at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
According to USA Today, the sport was approved for the summer games and will join several other accepted sports such as climbing, skateboarding, and surfing, debuting in Tokyo next summer.
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, expressed his fondness for all of the new sports added to the Olympics, which he believes will make the Summer Games “more gender-balanced, more youthful and more urban.” Historically, the Olympics has stuck to traditional sports such as swimming, basketball, tennis, and gymnastics, amongst several others.
“We have had a clear priority, and this is to introduce sports which are particularly popular among the younger generations. And also to take into account the urbanization of sport.” Bach said after the IOC executive board’s meeting Monday,
Breaking is not a new concept for the Olympics. In 2018 during the Summer Youth Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, B-Boy Bumblebee became history’s first Youth Olympic champion in breaking.
Breakdancing was birthed during the 1960s and early 1970s during the rise of hip-hop. The street dance style was made popular by people of color and incorporated martial arts and gymnastics to pull off the intricate moves.
