Breakdancing Officially Named an Olympic Sport

The 2024 Olympics in Paris, France will include breakdancing.

On Monday, the International Olympic Committee officially confirmed breakdancing as an Olympic sport. The 2024 Olympic Games, to be hosted in Paris, will feature the sport in an attempt to attract a younger audience. Other sports like climbing, skateboarding, and surfing are all new additions to the Games.

IOC president Thomas Bach praised the new additions back in 2019, calling them "more gender balanced, more youthful, and more urban." In a USAToday article, a few breakers have expressed doubt about the new decision. Crazy Legs, breaking pioneer and president of the Rock Steady Crew, saw the decision as a positive, and thinks its important that prominent breakers like himself work with the IOC and World DanceSport Federation to make sure the Olympic competition stays true to the art form's roots.

"Beyond just the moves," he said, "the passion and the pain that goes with living through struggle--that is the essence of the dance. You want to make sure that the soul of it isn't diluted."

The idea first emerged in 2018, after trial competitions in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires was deemed a success. Contestants faced each other in one-on-one dance offs. Sergei "Bumblebee" Chernyshev of Russia won gold in the men's competition, while Ramu "Ram" Kawai of Japan won the women's competition.

In the 2024 Games, the competitions will be held in downtown Paris, alongside sport climbing and 3-on-3 basketball. The latter two sports, along with skateboarding, will debut next year in the delayed Olympics in Tokyo.