The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reported on Monday that elite Breakdancing would make its debut in Olympics at Paris 2024.
It will be the first-ever DanceSport to appear at an Olympics Games, having been presented two years ago at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
The committee’s executive board also stated that sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding– three sports that were expected to debut at the Tokyo Games (which are postponed because of COVID-19) would also be featured in Paris.
The president of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), Shawn Tay, said, “It is a historic occasion, not only for b-girls and b-boys but also for all dancers around the globe.”
“The WDSF cannot be more pleased to have break dance included in the Olympics, and we thank everyone who assisted in making it a reality: the organizers of Paris 2024, WDSF staff, the executive board of IOC and, most importantly, the breakdance community itself.”
“It was a team effort to get to this point, and we will reinforce our efforts in the lead-up to the Paris 2024 to assure the breaking competition in the Olympics will be unforgettable.”
There will be 16 b-girls, and 16 b-boys– the word used for professional breakdancers– compete in head-on battles, and it is hoped the sport’s addition will draw a young audience to Paris 2024.
There were three medal events at the 2018 Youth Olympics that attracted crowds of more than 35,000 young people every day, as stated by WDSF.
Norms that were introduced after the Tokyo Olympics permit host cities to propose new sports to be included in their games.
Tokyo 2020 that was postponed is scheduled on 23 July 2021 with Thomas Bach, the IOC president, saying previous month that he is confident that audiences will be able to attend.
