Breaking, also known as breakdancing, will make its debut as an official Olympic sport at the 2024 Paris Games. Originally born in block parties in the Bronx in the 1970s, breaking has evolved into a competitive sport that is now contested worldwide. Sixteen men and 16 women, known as B-Boys and B-Girls, will compete in one-on-one battles for Olympic gold, with judging criteria based on artistic expression and athletic power. The competition will take place in Place de la Concorde, alongside other nontraditional sports like skateboarding, BMX freestyle, and 3×3 basketball.
In addition to breaking, other new sports from the 2020 Tokyo Games will return for a second run in Paris, including surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing, and 3×3 basketball. Surfing events will be held in French Polynesia, with the medal events scheduled for July 30. Skateboarding competitions will take place at Place de La Concorde, featuring separate street and park events for both men and women. Sport climbing will showcase two events for both men and women, while 3×3 basketball will have men’s and women’s competitions at Place de La Concorde.
New events have also been added to some established Olympic sports for the 2024 Games. Kayak cross will make its debut, with four kayakers racing against each other through a course with downstream and upstream gates. In artistic swimming, men will be included in the competition for the first time. Track and field will feature slight tweaks to the lineup, including the addition of a marathon race walk mixed relay event and the exclusion of the men’s 50km race walk. Boxing will see the addition of a new women’s weight class and the removal of a men’s weight class, resulting in seven weight classes for men and six for women.
The breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics will feature separate one-day competitions for women and men, with the women’s qualifying round on August 9 and the men’s on August 10. Contestants will be judged based on their creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity, and musicality, with an emphasis on improvisation. The breaking competition, along with other nontraditional sports, will take place in a public square in Paris, maintaining the sport’s roots in urban environments. As breaking makes its Olympic debut, it marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the sport from its humble beginnings to an internationally recognized competitive discipline.
