Breaking -- the competitive form of break dancing -- is the only new sport at the Paris Games, and its inclusion is “likely a one-time occurrence,” according to Les Carpenter of the WASHINGTON POST. Breaking is not on the program for the 2028 L.A. Games, but there has been a “fascination about breaking," and the IOC “heavily promoted qualifying events throughout the spring.” Pushed against the IOC’s Summer Games limit of 10,500 athletes, Paris 2024 organizers were “looking to add a sport that had as few competitors as possible.” At the same time, the World DanceSport Federation was “looking to get a form of ballroom or salsa dance into the Olympics.” The IOC, “aiming to make their Games younger and more diverse, was more interested in breaking.” After the IOC tested breaking at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Games, “momentum quickly built” for the sport to be added for Paris (WASHINGTON POST, 8/8).
FINALLY PART OF THE TEAM: In Houston, Danielle Lerner noted U.S. breakers “weren’t sure they’d be accepted by other athletes” at the Games. U.S. team member Sunny Choi said, “As we walk around, I’m feeling like everyone really, truly sees us as peers, and they really respect us.” Lerner noted the breakers are “among the most popular athletes at the Games.” People are “genuinely curious about and excited to watch breaking,” even if they “don’t fully know what to expect.” The dancers are “happy to educate others about their sport” but they “don’t feel the need to convince everybody to love breaking” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/7).
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION? YAHOO SPORTS’ Henry Bushnell writes many in the breaking community have “glared at the Olympics with skepticism.” Some see an "overwhelmingly white, Western European institution commercializing an art form that many Black and brown pioneers never really monetized.” In short, they see a "culture being co-opted.” But others see a "golden opportunity to bring that culture to the world, on sport’s biggest stage; to tell the stories of the founding fathers” (YAHOO SPORTS, 8/8). Choi, as told to the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER's Mike Sielski, said, "The question of cultural appropriation is definitely divisive, and I don’t know that I should answer it. Honestly, I do notice that a lot of the people who comment tend to be from outside our community, so they’re not actually breakers. They're people who have opinions but not necessarily real context into what our world is like today. I actually see very little of that within our breaking community at all” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/7).
