The International Olympic Committee announced four additional events have been confirmed for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, France. Breakdancing (or breaking), one of the original four elements of Hip Hop culture, is now officially an Olympic sport.
Plus, athletes will be able to compete in skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing for the first time beginning at the rescheduled 2020 Toyko Summer Olympics in 2021. Tokyo 2020 was scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 of this year, but the Games were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With this programme, we are making the Olympic Games Paris 2024 fit for the post-corona world. We are further reducing the cost and complexity of hosting the Games. While we will achieve gender equality already at the upcoming Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, we will see for the first time in Olympic history the participation of the exact same number of female athletes as male athletes. There is also a strong focus on youth,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
The art of breakdancing was created by African-American and Latino youth in the 1970s. The street dance started in conjunction with the other Hip Hop elements of rap music, deejaying, and graffiti. Breaking would go on to become one of America’s most successful cultural exports of modern times.
Male and female breaking competitions are held around the world. For example, the Red Bull BC One is a highly-respected tournament that crowns a yearly world champion. Japan’s B-Boy Shigekix became the youngest Red Bull BC One World Final winner in November. Russia’s B-Girl Kastet repeated as Red Bull BC One champion this year.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool