The Olympic Games are just 17 weeks away and Mail Sport looks ahead to the Paris Games with a series of interviews, flashbacks and deep dives.
The inclusion of breaking in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has attracted attention among some spectators and even the world champion of this sport admits that he was surprised.
Breakdancing may be a fledgling art form that emerged in the South Bronx in the mid-1970s, but Victor Montalvo believes that on the other side of the Atlantic it is about to take the sports world by storm, if fans are willing to give it a try.
The Olympic Games are set to break onto the world stage when they make their debut this summer and Montalvo, the reigning world champion, is enjoying being the center of attention in Paris, even if he wasn’t aware of how big the Games are. .
“I was surprised that breaking was going to be in the Olympics,” the 29-year-old, who competes as “B-Boy Victor”, tells Mail Sport at the Red Bull offices in New York.
Team USA breaker Victor Montalvo sat down with DailyMail.com to talk about the Olympics
Reigning world champion Montalvo is ready to bask in the Paris spotlight
The 29-year-old qualified by winning gold at the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championships.
‘I never really watched the Olympics. I didn’t know how big it was until I started talking to other Olympic athletes.
The breaker, who is also a two-time Red Bull BC One champion, is of course hoping for gold to back up his medal at last year’s World Championships, but believes he and the sport as a whole have a lot to offer. the games.
“It’s going to bring a completely different vibe, because it’s going to bring hip hop culture to the Olympics,” says the Red Bull athlete.
“I just want a new generation to see this sport, this dance, and get involved in it, because it doesn’t take much, it just takes a dance floor, yourself and self-expression.” That’s all.
“What I want fans to know is that breaking is not just about moves, it’s about movement.” It is an art form, although it can also be a sport.
‘I just want you to know that the true essence of breaking is to be creative, original and also to be attentive to the music and bring your own creative mindset to this dance. So for me it’s like an art.”
Breaking got its start on the streets of New York City in the 1970s, but has evolved into a proper dance sport, with a fixed set of rules for fair competition.
While breakdancing is now ready to make the leap to the big stage of the Olympic Games, Montalvo hopes the sport remembers its origins and that the IOC brings back the cultural elements of hip hop (the emcee, the DJ, the graffiti, the break) at the Parisian neighborhood festival.
At the Games, athletes will compete in men’s and women’s individual events with breakers facing off in spectacular solo battles to impress the judges, with each breaker taking two or three alternating turns, or ‘throws’.
The breaker from Kissimmee, Florida, is also a two-time Red Bull BC One champion
Montalvo believes that breakdancing is not only a sporting event but also an art form
Breakers will be judged on their creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality.
But Montalvo explains that to truly outdo your opponent you must bring your own style.
“First of all, you have to have your own original style and your own creativity,” he says. “So you have to stay strong from start to finish.”
And each breaker seems to have a different approach to bringing their unique style to the court and Montalvo explains that he has some signature moves up his sleeve to match with spontaneity.
“I’m 50 percent structured and 50 percent improvised,” he adds, explaining his own preparation process.
‘I make sure I have three signatures per round but, at the same time, I’m also ready to have a Plan B or a Plan C because you never know what’s going to happen.
‘You have to find a quick way to adapt and improvise at the right time. And that’s something I love about breaking because it’s very challenging.”
And Montalvo’s signature set includes his own eponymous movement: The Supa Montalvo.
Montalvo explains that to truly outdo your opponent you must bring your own style.
He revealed that he always has a set of signature moves up his sleeve heading into battle.
‘My friend named him. I just did it randomly due to lack of practice. And since then they simply call it Supa Montalvo. To me, it’s like turning on one side or like a W shape, or turning frozen.’
It seems like a strange language to those who have no idea about breakout lingo, but spectators don’t need to have knowledge of the sport to be impressed by seeing the move performed. However, they probably don’t realize the level of fitness required to achieve this.
Breaking requires a combination of muscle memory, flexibility, strength and drive, according to Montalvo, which he achieves through calisthenics, running, cycling and, most importantly, dancing at least once a day.
But his most unusual pre-competition ritual happens just as he’s about to hit the dance floor when Montalvo reveals that there’s one person putting him in the right mindset.
“I love seeing a James Brown concert,” he admits. ‘I do not know why. It just relaxes me. Just the way he dances, it’s like, “Man, I want to be like that in battle.” So when I look at it, I think, “Okay, that’s what I’ll do in battle just for fun.”
James Brown aside, Montalvo’s true inspiration is his father. He was introduced to breaking by his father, Víctor Bermúdez, and his uncle, Héctor, who have been described as “pioneers of breaking” as they helped grow the sport in Mexico since the late 1980s.
His father supported Montalvo’s dreams and made sacrifices to ensure they came true, even if it meant going against the rest of the family.
Montalvo reveals that some family members discourage him from traveling internationally and practicing this sport. He remembers having the opportunity to compete in an event in Amsterdam, but his mother’s family insisted he couldn’t attend.
Montalvo performs at the World Urban Games in Budapest, Hungary, in 2019
Montalvo poses with his sign on the Sunset Strip during Team USA’s Road to Paris bus tour.
“My dad was the only one who supported me a lot,” he says. ‘For me, it was crushing my dreams. This was a dream for me and I had the opportunity to do it.
‘Basically, my dad said you were going to go and he got money from my grandfather, because he didn’t have enough money to get a passport. So he got me a passport and I went to the event.
‘After that event, I started flying everywhere. It just became a career naturally.”
Now, however, everyone will be cheering him on in Paris.
“They are very proud,” he insists when asked what his family now thinks of his passion. ‘So proud. They honestly didn’t know it was going to be this big or that I was going to make a career out of it.
“My mom told me: ‘What is this dancing? “You’re not going to make a career out of this, you’re not going to make any money.” Now I’m doing very well.”