B-Boy Victor exclusive: The American breaker at the forefront of history

Victor Montalvo is on top of the world.

Ranked number one in the U.S. and number two in the world (WDSF), the breaker is at the forefront of the history being written as his sport prepares to make its Olympic debut.

Breaking, also known as breakdancing, will take to the Olympic stage for the very first time at Paris 2024 and Olympic fans from across the globe will witness the unparalleled skills of reigning world champion B-Boy Victor.

The dancer sat down with Olympics.com in New York less than four months ahead of the kick off of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and dove into how, even as one of the greatest B-boys of his generation, his craft is ever-changing.

“What I'm trying to do right now is just focus more on my dance and reinvent myself, get more creative, evolve and become a new Victor in the dance,” he said.

Victor Montalvo at the forefront of history

For the majority of Montalvo’s breaking career, the Olympic Games were not even on his radar.

Everything changed for him and breakers across the globe after the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires saw outstanding success for the sport, and it was added to the roster for Paris.

For Montalvo, writing American history truly began when he became the first Team USA breaker to earn a quota for Paris 2024 with his win at the 2023 WDSF World Championship in Leuven, Belgium.

“History was made and I’m glad I got to be a part of it,” he wrote on his Instagram.

“Congratulations [Victor], you earned it,” USA Breaking wrote.

“He is the first U.S. Bboy in the history of breaking to qualify for the Olympics!”

Since that competition last year, Montalvo has been breaking around the world, blowing up alongside the sport as the two enter the Olympic sphere.

American teammate Sunny Choi, or B-Girl Sunny, became the second Team USA athlete to secure a spot in Paris when she won the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Two more Olympic quotas could be obtained by American breakers through the two-part Olympic Qualifier Series, where four athletes are currently laying it all on the table for their chance to dance in Paris.

The first part of the series took place in Shanghai from 16 - 19 May and the second part will be in Budapest from 20 - 23 June. When the two conclude, the top seven athletes from each gender will obtain a quota and after the first part, Jeffrey (Jeffro) Louis sits on top of the rankings for the U.S. men and Logan (Logistx) Edra holds the top spot for the women.

B-Boy Victor’s generational dreams

After initially being introduced to the sport by his father, Victor Bermudez, and his uncle Hector, Montalvo fell in love with the sport at the age of six and took off from there.

His father and uncle were dubbed pioneers of the sport as they danced on the streets of Mexico as breaking gained global popularity in the mid-80s. Unlike B-boy Victor, the two were unable to make careers in the sport, but have seen their dreams come to fruition through the next generation.

“They’re there all along the way,” Montalvo told Olympics.com, talking about his father, Hector and his twin brother.

“They’re really excited. They just want to make sure that I’m focused. They call me sometimes like, ‘Hey Victory, come on. You got this.’”

Though he always had a support system in the men in his life, the rest of the family weren’t quite as quick to hop on board.

“My mum and her side of the family were really upset,” he said to The Red Bulletin, recalling his early beginnings.

“They thought it was horrible, that I was going to be a nobody, that I needed to go back to school to have a career. But my dad was OK with it. He was like ‘just follow your dreams.”

24 years of following his dreams after that initial introduction and Victor Montalvo is the second-ranked breaker in the world, backed by his entire family.

“They’re proud of me. Well, my whole family is super proud of me.”