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Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics
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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.
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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 omission 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]
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Competition format
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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 scored 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 went head-to-head for two rounds. They were 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 were pooled and sorted for 9th to 16th place with the same criteria.[8][7]
In the knockout stage, the competitors went head-to-head for three rounds. Whoever won the most rounds won the match and advanced. Those who lost in the quarterfinal were 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 competed in the bronze medal match.[8][7]
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Qualification
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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
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The judges for the competition were:[12]
The hosts and DJs for the competition were:[12]
390 songs were cleared for use in the competition.[13] The genres used included hip hop, soul, funk, jazz, latin, and rock. Many of the songs are commonly used in breaking competitions worldwide.
Some of the songs and instrumentals that were played included A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario", The Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache", Roberto Roena's "Que Se Sepa", JID's "Never", Yellow Sunshine's "Yellow Sunshine", Method Man's "Judgement Day", Eric B. & Rakim's "Know the Ledge", Booker T. Averheart's "Heart N' Soul", Babe Ruth's "The Mexican", Choker Campbell's "Carioca", and James Brown's "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved".
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Competition schedule
| 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).
E = Evening session, starting at 20:00 local time (19:00 UTC).
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)
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Medal summary
Medal table
* Host nation (France)
Medalists
The winners were as follows:[15][16]
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Controversy
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.[17][18][19][20][21][22]
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See also
References
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