What is breaking as an Olympic sport? All to know ahead of Paris 2024

From street dance to Olympic sport, breaking will make its debut at the summer Games in Paris.

Sarah Bee of France competes in the Breaking B-Girls Pre-Selection Battle during the Olympic Qualifier Series Budapest at Ludovica Campus on June 22, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. — Sarah Bee of France competes in the Breaking B-Girls Pre-Selection Battle during the Olympic Qualifier Series Budapest at Ludovica Campus on June 22, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary [David Balogh/Getty Images]

The dance that sprung up on the streets of Bronx in the 1970s thanks to New York’s African American community is making its way to the Paris Olympics 2024.

Breaking, also known as breakdancing by those outside the breaking community, is the only new sport to debut at the Summer Games in France. Here is all to know about the sport.

What is breaking?

Breaking is an urban, improvisational dance technique, typically performed to hip-hop music with drum breaks.
It comprises four kinds of movements: top-rock, down-rock, power moves and freezes.
The roots of breaking lie in the emergence of hip-hop culture in the United States.
The 1990s saw the first international breaking competitions.
Currently, the Red Bull BC One, which first started in 2004, is the sport’s most prestigious annual breaking championship.
World DanceSport Federation has been the sport’s official governing body since 2018.
Breaking was introduced in the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018.

Breaking athlete performing routine. — Korea’s Hongten in action during the B-Boys battle for third place against Japan’s Issin at the Olympic qualifiers in Budapest, Hungary, June 23, 2024 [Marton Monus/Reuters]

Breaking terms to know

Breaker: A gender-neutral term for a practitioner of breakdancing.
B-boys and b-girls: Gendered words for breakers, short for break-boys and break-girls.
B-boying and b-girling: Gendered words for the act of a breaker performing the break-dance.

How will the breaking competitions at the Olympics work?

Breaking will be divided into two separate competitions, one for b-girls and b-boys each.
16 b-girls and 16 b-boys will face off in solo contests and will improvise their steps based on the DJ’s tracks.
They will use power moves, “including windmills, the 6-step, and freezes,” according to the Olympics website.

What time are the Olympics breaking competitions?

The girls breaking competition runs on August 9 from 4:00pm Paris time (14:00 GMT) to the end of the day. The last round, the Gold Medal Battle will start at 9:23pm Paris time (19:23 GMT).
The boys breaking competition runs on August 10 from 4:00pm Paris time (14:00 GMT) to the end of the day. The last round, the Gold Medal Battle will start at 9:23pm Paris time (19:23 GMT).

Where are the Olympics breaking competitions?

The Olympics breaking competitions will take place at La Concorde in Paris, 5km (3.1 miles) from the Olympic and Paralympic Village.

Olympics games site in Paris, France. — Pedestrians walk past the temporary venue hosting the breaking, BMX freestyle, skateboarding, and 3X3 basketball competitions for the Olympics Games, at the Place de la Concorde, in Paris [Sami Karaali/AFP]

⚽ Keep up to date:

You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated Paris 2024 Olympics tournament page with all the news and features, as well as event build-up and live text commentary on selected football, basketball, tennis and boxing fixtures.

Source: Al Jazeera