Breaking at OQS Budapest: Preview, schedule, and how to watch the action live
Find out the top stars to watch, what is at stake, and how you can follow the breaking action live from the Olympic Qualifier Series via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.
Breaking
The roll call of the first-ever Olympic breaking class will be revealed at the end of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary.
Forty B-Boys and 40 B-Girls are competing in the final Olympic qualifier in the hopes of securing the last quotas for Paris 2024 where the sport is making its Olympic debut. Seven B-Boys and seven B-Girls will obtain their Paris spots in Budapest*. Another six spots - two Universality quotas and one host country quota per gender - will be decided based on the OQS results at a later stage.
Quotas will be decided based on a points system. A maximum of 50 points were available at the first Olympic Qualifiers Series, which was held in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China in May, with Dutch B-Boy Lee and Japanese B-Girl Ayumi taking the top spots.
Another 50 is available in the Hungarian capital. The winner will receive 50 points, while the 40th-ranked athlete will receive one point.
B-Boy Lee’s surprise victory in Shanghai raised the stakes for the other male athletes, while a Japanese podium sweep in the women’s event keeps suspense levels high as to which of the three Japanese B-Girls will obtain a quota - a maximum of two are available per National Olympic Committee (NOC).
The OQS competition will start with a pre-selection phase where the athletes will have solo performances. They will then take part in pre-qualifier battles, a round robin, and a knock-out stage that culminates in the gold and bronze medal battles.
Find out the top B-Boys and B-Girls to watch and the full schedule below.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation. Click here to view the qualification system for each sport.
OQS Budapest 2024: Meet the B-Boys
The Netherlands' B-Boy Lee put himself on the radar when he clinched the win in Shanghai despite sitting in 12th spot in the Olympic Qualification System Ranking List before the competition. While his participation at Paris 2024 is far from assured, the 50 points he collected in the first OQS stage gives him a solid boost heading into the deciding stage.
Lee was not the only surprise overperformer in China. Local B-Boy Lithe-ing was also impressive, finishing second despite being only 27th in the ranking. Japan's Hiro10 broke from the shadow of his higher-ranked teammate B-Boy Issin to finish third.
Issin collected 33 points, as compared to Hiro10's 41 points, and will need to overtake him in the final ranking to go to Paris 2024. Since Japan's B-Boy Shigekix secured a quota earlier, only one possible spot remains for his two teammates.
The duel for the last possible USA spot also remains tight with B-Boy Jeffro and B-Boy Gravity finishing one point apart in Shanghai. The narrow finish was a déjà vu moment for Jeffro who was only one spot away from obtaining a quota at the 2023 Pan American Games.
A veteran of the sport, B-Boy Hongten of the Republic of Korea enjoyed a solid run in Shanghai, which was one of his rare competition appearances since 2023. He finished in the Top 5 in three of the four events he competed at in 2023, including the Asian Games, and was fourth at the OQS in Shanghai where he surpassed his fourth-ranked teammate B-Boy Wing.
Like Wing, B-Boy Amir of Kazakhstan has some catching up to do in Budapest. Ranked seventh in the world coming into Shanghai, the world medallist only managed a 15th place in the first stage of the Olympic Qualifier Series.
Qualified B-Boys:
- B-Boy Tawfiq (MAR)
- B-Boy Chakib (ALG)
- B-Boy Zoo (ALG)
- B-Boy Menno (NED)
- B-Boy Lee (NED)
- B-Boy Lil Zoo (AUT)
- B-Boy Jeffro (USA)
- B-Boy Gravity (USA)
- B-Boy Wing (KOR)
- B-Boy X-Rain (CHN)
- B-Boy Lithe-ing (CHN)
- B-Boy Mighty Jimm (BEL)
- B-Boy Alvin (COL)
- B-Boy Kid Karam (ENG)
- B-Boy Lussy Sky (UKR)
- B-Boy Hongten (KOR)
- B-Boy Benmx (AUS)
- B-Boy Kid Tek (AUS)
- B-Boy Mighty Duck (AUS)
- B-Boy Matita (CHI)
- B-Boy Amir (KAZ)
- B-Boy Issin (JPN)
- B-Boy Lagaet (FRA)
- B-Boy Kuzya (UKR)
- B-Boy Wigor (POL)
- B-Boy Xak (ESP)
- B-Boy Hiro10 (JPN)
- B-Boy Sunni (ENG)
- B-Boy Quake (TPE)
- B-Boy Daniel (NOR)
- B-Boy Sheku (ENG)
- B-Boy Khalil (FRA)
- B-Boy Kill (KOR)
- B-Boy Tirock (BEL)
- B-Boy Leony (BRA)
- B-Boy Neosan (FRA)
- B-Boy Lorenzo (NED) (a replacement for B-Boy FlyForty of Papua New Guinea in Budapest)
- B-Boy Edison (ESA)
- B-Boy Jw Fresh (CHN)
- B-Boy Noris (HUN)
The lists of athletes are subject to change and all quotas allocated for the OQS are the responsibility of the respective International Federation.
OQS Budapest 2024: Meet the B-Girls
Japan’s B-Girls remain neck-and-neck heading into OQS Budapest with one point separating the three of them. The team’s veteran B-Girl Ayumi collected the full 50 points in Shanghai, with B-Girl Ami coming in second and youngster B-Girl Riko finishing third.
Each boasts a plethora of accolades. Ayumi is a 2021 world champion and will celebrate her 41st birthday on 22 June, the penultimate day of breaking in Hungary. B-Girl Ami is the 2022 world champion and current No.1 in the Olympic Qualification System Ranking List, while 17-year-old Riko is the exciting, fresh talent on Japan's breaking scene.
USA's B-Girl Logistx was the only non-Japanese athlete to advance to the semi-finals stage in Shanghai. Ranked 14th ahead of the competition, she exceeded expectations with an important fourth-place finish to continue her fight for the one possible spot remaining for USA B-Girls at Paris 2024. B-Girl Sunny secured the first quota via the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, leaving only one spot for Logistx and Santiago 2023 bronze medallist B-Girl La Vix who suffered an early exit in Shanghai.
Pan American Games silver medallist, B-Girl Luma of Colombia, finished 11th in Shanghai and remains in contention to become the first South American representative in breaking at Paris 2024.
B-Girl Emma is the only athlete in breaking at the Olympic Qualifier Series who already has an Olympic medal on her resume. The Canadian took silver at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and continues her quest to compete in the senior Olympic Games after finishing 16th in China.
Qualified B-Girls:
- B-Girl Midian Leah (RSA)
- B-Girl Courtnae Paul (RSA)
- B-Girl Alma (MAR)
- B-Girl Stefani (UKR)
- B-Girl Syssy (FRA)
- B-Girl Anti (ITA)
- B-Girl Luma (COL)
- B-Girl Logistx (USA)
- B-Girl Ayumi (JPN)
- B-Girl Ami (JPN)
- B-Girl Kate (UKR)
- B-Girl Madmax (BEL)
- B-Girl Jilou (GER)
- B-Girl Senorita Carlota (FRA)
- B-Girl Paulina (POL)
- B-Girl Ying Zi (CHN)
- B-Girl Molly (AUS)
- B-Girl Hannah (AUS)
- B-Girl G-Clef (AUS)
- B-Girl La Vix (USA)
- B-Girl Riko (JPN)
- B-Girl Vanessa (POR)
- B-Girl Fresh Bella (KOR)
- B-Girl Alessandrina (ITA)
- B-Girl Tiff (CAN)
- B-Girl Emma (CAN)
- B-Girl Swami (MEX)
- B-Girl Furia (ESP)
- B-Girl Camine (BEL)
- B-Girl Starry (KOR)
- B-Girl Nadia (ISR)
- B-Girl Pauline (GER)
- B-Girl Spidergirl (ITA)
- B-Girl Kim (UKR)
- B-Girl Sarah Bee (FRA)
- B-Girl Fairytale (SWE) (a replacement for B-Girl Raw Law of Spain in Budapest)
- B-Girl Jeanny (TOG)
- B-Girl Isis (ECU)
- B-Girl Ziyan (CHN)
- B-Girl Csenge (HUN)
The lists of athletes are subject to change and all quotas allocated for the OQS are the responsibility of the respective International Federation.
OQS 2024 Budapest - Breaking schedule
All times local Central European Time (UTC +2 hours). Start times of events are provisional and subject to change.
Saturday 22 June
- 13:00 - Breaking - B-Boys - Pre-selection
- 13:00 - Breaking - B-Girls - Pre-selection
- 16:45 - Breaking - B-Boys - Pre-Qualifiers
- 16:45 - Breaking - B-Girls - Pre-Qualifiers
Sunday 23 June
- 09:30 - Breaking - B-Girls - Round-robin
- 12:45 - Breaking - B-Boys - Round-robin
- 16:00 - Breaking - B-Girls - Quarter-finals
- 16:30 - Breaking - B-Boys - Quarter-finals
- 17:00 - Breaking - B-Girls - Semi-finals
- 17:15 - Breaking - B-Boys - Semi-finals
- 17:45 - Breaking - B-Girls - Finals
- 18:15 - Breaking - B-Boys - Finals
How to watch breaking at OQS live
Action from all four OQS sports, including breaking, will be streamed live, for free, and without subscription to a worldwide audience on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app.
You can also catch up on the latest news, features, reports and updates from the ground with daily articles on Olympics.com.