If you have ever watched the 80s movie Electric Boogaloo...

you may find it hard to believe that breakdancing is an Olympic sport, But, sure enough, the best b-boys and b-girls in the world will descend on Paris to be forever known as the first medalists in the sport.

Breakdancing was greenlighted by the International Olympic Committee in 2016 and showed up in Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games in 2018. The success at that event spurred the IOC to give the sport official recognition for these games.
The rules are simple, 16 men and 16 women will face-off in one-one battles that will last 90 seconds. A panel of five judges will give 1-10 scores based on music interpretation and acrobatic movements.

According to the December 2023 WDSF Breaking Rules and Regulations Manual, “The purpose of this system is to provide a comprehensive, transparent and intuitive tool for Judges to use as they assess any given Battle.”

Athletes must improvise, adapting their style and routines to fit the beat of the DJ’s chosen tracks. The athletes participating in breaking will be using a combination of moves like windmills, the 6-step and freezes as they battle it out for the first set of Olympic medals in this discipline.

The competition will take place Aug. 9 and 10 at La Concorde Urban Park.
So, who are considered the favorites?

American Victor Montalvo (B-boy Victor) describes himself as a student of old school b-boys from the founding era of hip-hop. The 30-year-old Montalvo, who is from Kissimmee, Florida, qualified for Paris by besting all other b-boys at the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championship in Belgium.

Sunny Choi (B-girl Sunny) from Queens, New York, has long been an ambassador for b-girls globally. She qualified for the Paris Games with her win at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile.

Non American to watch include Canadian Philip Kim (B-boy Phil Wizard), who is consistently ranked in the top three b-boys in the international breaking competitive community, Kim secured a spot for Paris when he came out on top at last year’s Pan American Games and 17-year-old Dominika Banevic (B-girl Nicka) from Lithuania. Banevic was the youngest in her category at last year’s WDSF World Breaking Championship, when she punched her ticket to Paris.