Hello world: Breaking set to take centre stage at Paris 2024
It’s time.
Four years after breaking officially became a part of the Paris 2024 program, the dance sport will finally get its share of the Olympic limelight on Friday (9 August), fittingly in the City of Light.
And the B-Boys and B-Girls are ready. In fact, they’ve been ready.
“It's been a long process for us and for all of us a very new process,” Canadian B-Boy Phil Wizard told Olympics.com on the eve of the competition at La Concorde. “It's two years-plus in the making and it all happens on one day.
“So there's a lot of excitement, there's a lot of nervousness. You're seeing the best of the best on the floor but I think everyone's just looking forward for the world to see breaking.”
Said Japan's flag-bearer and superstar B-Boy Shigekix, “There will be a lot of people watching and I’m grateful for all the attention breaking is getting. I think each and every one of us is somewhat nervous, excited.
“We’re all fired up but as a competitor, I need to be business as usual. Trying too hard, wanting it too much doesn’t bring out the best in me.
“I’m going to be a pro about this - focus on who I am and what I do.”
Breaking: Anticipation mounts
The two-day competition starts with the B-Girls on Friday, the B-Boys the following day.
In slightly more than five hours, they will have to battle through a round robin, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the medal matches. Unlike your average breaking event which is usually spread over a couple of days, the Olympic format is one day. It is not for the faint-hearted.
Some have tailored their workouts specifically for the Games like Shigekix, who has been simulating the five-hour slog during training camp back in Japan. Others like USA B-Girl Sunny have not changed much in their regimen.
Everyone’s approach seems to differ but there is a unanimous feeling of not knowing what to expect from a completely novel tournament.
“It’s going to be different every single time I get up there and I think I don't want to put a box around what this experience could be,” Sunny said. “So I'm trying to just be as open minded as possible and I hope everyone else here is trying to do the same.
“It's like every single emotion that you can think of is what I'm feeling right now - excited, grateful, frustrated, anxious, stressed.
“I don't know, like literally everything. I’ve run the whole gamut so and I'm just working through different emotions at different times.”
The medals on offer here could be life-changing for many of the B-Boys and B-Girls but the Games are not all about wins and losses to them.
“To be completely honest like of course I want to win. I think everyone's here to win,” Phil Wizard said. “When I'm on that stage, I'm going to go for the gold and I'm here to win. I think just like everybody else.
“But honestly - and I’ve said this before - more than anything I'm excited for people to see breaking. I'm excited for a lot of new faces to kind of light up when they see what we do and for people to kind of understand what it is.”
For others such as Shigekix, it is the final stop on a long, winding road that began with the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where breaking was unveiled on the Olympic stage and led to its inclusion at Paris.
“That was one of the top two experiences in my entire life,” said Shigekix, who won bronze there. “The experience helped shape who I am right now and I’m so excited to find out this weekend how that experience will determine my time in Paris.”
There’s one journey for each of the 33 B-Boys and B-Girls at these Games. But Shigekix’s Japanese team-mate, Hiro10, summed up best what the weekend will be like for them, the sport and their newfound global audience.
“I feel great. No, I mean it. When I say great, I mean great,” Hiro10 said. “This is the greatest feeling. I don’t know what else to tell you, the word great is the only word that comes to mind.
“When someone says they want to try to have fun, that means they’re not having fun. But everything is great here, period. I’m having a blast.
“It’s just absolutely great. That's all there is to say.”
Canada's B-Boy Phil Wizard is one of the favourites to win breaking's inaugural gold medal.