Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Breaking at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad
Venue	Place de la Concorde
Dates	9–10 August 2024
No. of events	2 (1 men, 1 women)
Competitors	33 from 16 nations

Breakdancing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics ran from 9 to 10 August at Place de la Concorde, marking the sport's official debut in the program and the first dancesport discipline to appear in Summer Olympic history.^[1][2] Following its successful debut at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, breaking was confirmed as one of the three additional sports, along with sport climbing and surfing, approved for Paris 2024.^[3][4] The competition saw a total of thirty-three breakers (sixteen b-boys and seventeen b-girls) staged in face-to-face single battles.^[5] IOC president Thomas Bach stated that breaking was added as part of an effort to draw more interest from young people in the Olympics.

Inclusion

Breaking was introduced at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as an optional (temporary) sport. Despite the United States being the birthplace of breakdancing, the sport is not set to be included at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; on its omittance in the latter, the IOC's sports director Kit McConnell stated that "It's up to each local organizing committee to determine which [additional] sports to put forward that fit with their vision of the Games. Obviously, breaking fit very clearly with Paris's vision of a very youth-focused urban engagement."^[6] For LA 2028, baseball, softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash were approved. World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), the sport's governing body, was cited as working toward ensuring breaking's inclusion at the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane.^[6]

Competition format

The breaking competition comprised two gender-based medal events (one for men and the other for women) where sixteen B-Boys and sixteen B-Girls competed against each other.

The competition began with a round robin stage. The 16 breakers were split in four groups and danced against the others in their group for a minute each. The two best breakers from each group progressed to the knockout stage, where breakers were eliminated from the competition after losing a one-on-one match.^[7][8]

Scoring

A panel of nine judges score each battle round using five equally-weighted criteria:^[9][8][7]

• Technique: The correct execution of moves, as well as athleticism, body control, dynamics, space control, form, lines and shape.^[7]
• Vocabulary: The number and variety of moves. A high score requires a diverse set of moves in multiple positions. Moves are grouped into toprock (dance elements executed while standing), downrock (spinning on the floor, combined with footwork, drops and transitions) and freeze (a stop in an acrobatic position).^[7]
• Execution: The clean performance of moves, and the distinction of moves from one another so that they flow, but not blend, into another.^[7]
• Musicality: How well the breaker reacts to and expresses the music, which is provided by a tournament staff DJ and not known to the breakers before the match.^[7]
• Originality: How the breaker "wows" the audience by making the dance their own.^[7]

For each round, the judge casts a vote in favor of one of the competitors, with the majority vote getter winning that particular round. Following the end of the match, the total number of rounds won and votes received are revealed.^[8][7]

Placing

In the round-robin stage, the competitors go head-to-head for two rounds. They are eventually ranked by total number of rounds won, then number of total votes, and then seeding, with the top two in each group advancing. The rest are pooled and sorted for 9th to 16th place with the same criteria.^[8][7]

In the knockout stage, the competitors go head-to-head for three rounds. Whoever wins the most rounds wins the match and advances. Those who lost in the quarterfinal are sorted by the number of knockout rounds won, then the number of knockout votes, and then the round-robin criteria. Those who lost in the semi-finals compete in the bronze medal match.^[8][7]

Qualification

Main article: Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification

A total of 32 quota places (sixteen each for B-Girls and B-Boys) were available for eligible dancers to compete for the inaugural medals in breaking. NOCs could enter a maximum of four breakers (two per gender) across two medal events.^[5][10]

Over eighty percent of the total quota was attributed to a large number of breakers through a tripartite qualification route. First, the 2023 WDSF World Championships, scheduled for 23 to 24 September in Leuven, Belgium, awarded the B-Boy and B-Girl champion with a direct quota place for Paris 2024. Second, a quintet of spots were assigned to the highest-ranked eligible breakers (one B-Boy and one B-Girl) competing in each of the designated continental meets (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania), respecting the two-member NOC limit. The remaining breakers were provided the final opportunity to book their slots for Paris 2024 through a four-month-long Olympic Qualifier Series, held between March and June 2024 in various locations worldwide.^[11]

The host nation France reserved a spot each for a B-Boy and a B-Girl in their respective breaking events, while four more places (two per gender) were entitled to the eligible NOCs interested to have their breakers compete for Paris 2024 through a Universality invitation. To be registered for a spot according to the criteria of the universality principle, breakers must have finished within the top 32 of their respective events in the final rankings of the four-month-long Olympic Qualifier Series.^[11]

Officials

The judges for the competition were:^[12]

Name	Nickname	NOC	Role
Martin Gilian	MGbility	Slovakia	Head judge
Judes Ferdinand Abdoul	Dom:k	France	Judge
Dae Kyun Hwang	Virus	South Korea	Judge
Moises Rivas	Moy	United States	Judge
Messias Chardison Pereira	Migaz	Brazil	Judge
Andrii Kurnosov	Intact	Ukraine	Judge
Jess Heredia Rodriguez	Jess	Spain	Judge
Kazuhiro Arakaki	Kazuhiro	Japan	Judge
Friederike Frost	Frost	Germany	Judge
Jiulong Lian	Kowloon	China	Judge

The DJs for the event were Plash One of Poland and American DJ Fleg. João Mário Oliveira Freitas (Max) and Malik Ali Moujouil (Malik) were the hosts.^[12]

Competition schedule

Legend

Q

Qualification

F

Final

A = Afternoon session, starting at 16:00 local time (15:00 UTC).
E = Evening session, starting at 20:00 local time (19:00 UTC).

Schedule^[13]

Event ↓ / Date →	Fri 9		Sat 10
B-Boys			Q	F
B-Girls	Q	F

Participating NOCs

In total 33 breakdancers from 16 nations are:

•  Australia (2)
•  Canada (1)
•  China (3)
•  Chinese Taipei (1)
•  France (4) Host
•  Italy (1)
•  Japan (4)
•  Kazakhstan (1)
•  Lithuania (1)
•  Morocco (2)
•  Netherlands (3)
•  Portugal (1)
•  Refugee Olympic Team (1)
•  South Korea (1)
•  Ukraine (3)
•  United States (4)

Medal summary

Medal table

  *   Host nation (France)

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Canada	1	0	0	1
	Japan	1	0	0	1
3	France*	0	1	0	1
	Lithuania	0	1	0	1
5	China	0	0	1	1
	United States	0	0	1	1
Totals (6 entries)		2	2	2	6

Medalists

The winners were as follows:^[14][15]

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
B-Boys details	Philip Kim Phil Wizard  Canada	Danis Civil Dany Dann  France	Victor Montalvo Victor  United States
B-Girls details	Ami Yuasa Ami  Japan	Dominika Banevič Nicka  Lithuania	Liu Qingyi 671  China

Controversy

Main article: Concerns and controversies at the 2024 Summer Olympics § Reaction to Australian breaker

The event was somewhat overshadowed and marred by the controversy generated on social media over Australian breaker Rachael Gunn's performance and choice of clothing, including an extended period of online bullying after misinformation was spread about the selection process.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]}

See also

• Breaking at the 2023 Pan American Games

References

1. "Paris 2024 – Breaking". Paris 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
2. "Breaking officially added to Olympic Games Paris 2024". World DanceSport Federation. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
3. West, Jenna (7 December 2020). "Breaking to Make Its Olympic Debut in Paris in 2024". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
4. Wharton, David (7 December 2020). "'Breaking' news: Breakdancing added as an event for 2024 Paris Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
5. Martín, Marta (13 December 2022). "How to qualify for breaking at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
6. Swaim, Kyler (10 August 2024). "Will breaking be at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles?". cbs42.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
7. Topping, Alexandra (9 August 2024). "Breaking for beginners: all you need to know about Olympics' newest sport". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
8. Ansari, Aarish (2 November 2021). "Explained: Breaking rules, moves and format". Olympics.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
9. Olmedo, Alonzo (11 August 2024). "How does Olympic breaking work? Format, rules, judging and more". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
10. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – Breaking" (PDF). World DanceSport Federation. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
11. "Road to Paris 2024 – WDSF announces 2023 Breaking calendar". World DanceSport Federation. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
12. "Breaking Results Book" (PDF). Paris 2024. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
13. "Paris 2024 Olympic Competition Schedule – Breaking" (PDF). Paris 2024. p. 17. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
14. Bachar, Zach (9 August 2024). "Olympic Breakdancing 2024 Results: Women's Breaking Medal Winners and Highlights". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
15. Peters, Andrew (10 August 2024). "Olympic Breakdancing 2024 Results: Men's Breaking Medal Bracket Winners, Highlights". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
16. "Raygun hits back at online hate as breaking moves at the Olympics go viral". The Independent. 10 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
17. Maguire, Ken (11 August 2024). "Breaking community defends b-girl Raygun and is hopeful for return to Olympic program". AP News. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
18. "Breaking community shows support for viral b-girl Raygun, says she was trying to be original". KUSA.com. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
19. "Paris 2024: Officials support Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn" (video). BBC Sport. 12 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
20. "Raygun: Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn calls Olympic performance backlash "devastating"". BBC Sport. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
21. "No, Raygun's Olympic selection not an inside job". AAP Factcheck. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.