Breaking at Olympic Games Paris 2024: Frequently asked questions
Find all your answers here about breaking and its Olympic debut at Paris 2024.
What is breaking?
Breaking is more commonly known as breakdancing, whose roots can be traced to Bronx, New York, in the 1970s as part of hip-hop culture, characterised by a combination of athletic moves including spins, flips and other complex techniques. International competitiions began in the 1990s.
The word "breaking" refers to the instrumental breaks in music usually accompanied beats.
Is it a sport?
Yes, you bet.
Breaking is recognised as an urban sport just like skateboarding and sport climbing, inspired by various dance styles demanding athleticism and coordination.
A breaking game or match is called a "battle". The athletes are referred to as B-Boys and B-Girls.
Dancers face off in one-on-one battles navigated by a master of ceremonies to music randomly played by a DJ.
When was breaking made an Olympic sport?
The 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires was the first Olympic event to showcase breaking.
After rousing success, it joined the program for Paris 2024 where breaking will be the only new sport.
From left, Japan's Ayumi, Ami and Riko swept the podium at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest.
How will breaking be organised at Paris 2024?
The inaugural Olympic competition will take place on 9 and 10 August at Place de la Concorde where 16 B-Boys and B-Girls each are entered. The women compete on the first day, the men on the second.
Each day starts with a round-robin phase consisting of four groups of four. The top two in each group advances to the quarter-finals followed by the semi-finals and battles for medals.
All that in about five hours. Did we mention breaking is a sport?
The MC and DJ play a crucial role in the breaking competition.
How did the 32 athletes qualify for Paris 2024?
France was granted two host quotas (one per gender) while four Universality places (two per gender) were on offer.
The remaining 26 were selected through last year’s world championships, the respective continental Games (Africa, Asia, Europe, Pan Am and Oceania) and the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) held in Shanghai and Budapest in May and June, respectively.
To be eligible for a Universality place, athletes needed to compete in OQS and finish in the top 24 of the final rankings.
Details of the qualification system are here.
How will breaking be scored at the Olympic Games? Who wins a battle?
Judges score the breakers based on five categories - musicality, vocabulary, originality, technique and execution. Each category makes up 20 per cent of the score.
Battles are best-of-three rounds, also known as throwdowns. Each breaker has 60 seconds to complete a routine in a throwdown.
Athletes can be penalised for misbehaviour.
Who will win the gold in breaking?
B-Boy Victor and B-Girl Nicka are the world champions but perhaps half the field has a shot at the top prize on any given day.
To name a few in the men’s event, Shigekix (Asian champion), Phil Wizard (Pan American champion) and Dany Dann (European champion from France).
In the women’s, there’s a good chance the winner will come from one of the three - Ami and Ayumi, who were one-two in OQS, and 671, the Asian champion from the Republic of China.
But with the grueling schedule in the heat, it really will likely come down to the day.
Reigning world champion B-Boy Victor of the United States