Breakers, get your suede Pumas and cardboard ready for Paris.
“Showtime! Showtime!”
New York subway riders know what that means. Clear a space by the door because breakdancing has been approved as an Olympic sport for the 2024 games in Paris.
According to Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal, has been provisionally approved as an Olympic sport.
Some context on what's driving Olympics' thinking on new sports: New additions need to be 1.) youth-oriented 2.) small footprint (they don't want the total no. of athletes to grow much, so team sports are v. hard) and 3.) have broad appeal, interest across many countries
— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) June 25, 2019
This shouldn’t be a total surprise though. Back in March it was rumored to be under serious consideration.
Tony Estanguet, a three-time canoeing Olympic champion and head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, said breaking, along with a few other sports, would make the Olympics “more urban” and “more artistic.”
Yet breakdancing has always been an athletic competition, much more than just entertainment on the subway. Another great aspect of breakdancing is that it’s so global. From the streets of New York to the streets of Japan, breakdancing is a universal language.
For the 70s and 80s babies, particularly those who grew up in New York, breakdancing was a street competition that could break out at any moment. All you needed were windbreakers, suede Pumas, a knee pad or two and a JVC or Panasonic boom box and it was on. These battles eventually caught the attention of Hollywood, who captured the culture in movies like “Wild Style”, “Breakin” and “Beat Street”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=324&v=c_ShwO10d6g
Three other sports, in addition to breakdancing, were approved as Olympic sports. They are skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, and they’re slated for the 2020 games.
