She has been added to the Olympic roster for the first time, controversially.
But does breakdancing really have a place at the Olympic Games?
As the 2024 Games get underway in Paris, investigators have revealed their verdict on whether breakdancing (dubbed ‘breaking’ by the Olympic Committee) is a legitimate sport.
Gary Burnett, a professor at Loughborough University, also known as ‘The Breakdancing Professor’, told MailOnline that breakdancing…Definitely deserves to be in the Olympics’ because it is ‘very athletic’ and requires an ‘enormous amount of strength’.
However, not everyone agrees. Australian squash great Michelle Martin said the Olympics had become a “mockery” after the break was added.
Breaking involves fast, stylized footwork, handstands, and spins on the back or even the head, all performed to a hip-hop soundtrack.
What’s breaking?
The Olympic symbol of breaking (breakdance)
Breakdancing is a type of street dance that originated in New York in the early 1980s.
It involves fast, stylized footwork, handstands, and spins on the back or even the head, all performed to a hip-hop soundtrack.
Breaking will be featured at this year’s Paris Summer Olympics, officially becoming an Olympic sport.
This energetic street dance, which emerged in New York in the 1980s, includes body spins, handstands and fast footwork, all improvised to a hip-hop soundtrack.
At the Olympics, athletes known as B-boys and B-girls will engage in a one-on-one dance duel in an attempt to impress the judges.
Professor Burnett, who was a semi-professional breaker in the 1980s, explained: ‘Breaking is especially exciting compared to more clearly defined sports at the Olympics.
‘What has also always been there from the beginning is the back-and-forth competitive angle.
‘One person would make a “move” and then their opponent would try to do the same thing better or in a different or unique way.
‘Over the years, this has been expanded with a wider range of basic movements, including various elements of gymnastics, but the basic premise of the riff remains.’
Professor Burnett, now a digital creativity expert at Loughborough School of Art and Design, describes breaking as “extremely inclusive” because it does not require expensive equipment.
“The only expenses I had as a teenager in the early 1980s were my train ticket to London to watch and learn from the best dancers of the day (these were the days before YouTube tutorials!), a roll of linoleum to practise on and lots of tins of shoe polish to make the linoleum more slippery,” she told MailOnline.
Now in his mid-50s, Professor Burnett no longer breakstune, largely because of the immense physical demands it places on the body.
‘The Breakdancing Teacher’: Gary Burnett (centre), pictured here aged 17, breakdances with friends in 1985
Like gymnastics or swimming, break dancing requires speed, strength and athleticism. Pictured, Spanish break dancer Laura Garcia, 29, performs on a street in Granada, Spain, on July 22, 2024.
Claire Warden, a lecturer in performance and physical culture at Loughborough University, agrees that “breaking is a sport because of its athleticism.”
“Breaking has a long and fascinating cultural history,” she told MailOnline.
‘It started with young, mostly impoverished African-American and Latino communities and grew into the global sport it is today.
‘It’s very exciting to think that this anti-system practice is entering the Olympic Games.
“He has a competitive side that has always been there since he started, so he is a great addition to the Olympic Games.”
Breaking ranks alongside more prestigious events such as the javelin throw and the pentathlon, which were part of the ancient Olympic Games more than 2,000 years ago.
But Professor Warden believes we should not be surprised when new sports are added to the Olympics because the games “have been constantly evolving”.
“Time and time again, it has changed and evolved, moved with the times and responded to culture to attract new audiences,” he said.
Olympic officials hope the inclusion of breaking at Paris 2024 will attract a younger generation of fans
Japanese breakdancer Shigeyuki Nakarai is pictured performing in Belgium last September at the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championships.
‘At the Olympic Games, there are already sports that are at the intersection of sport and performing arts, in the same way as breaking, synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics.’
Breaking is the only new feature at this year’s games, with karate, softball and baseball having been dropped after being added to the roster for Tokyo 2020.
Each competitor’s score will be determined by judges who will evaluate performance on five factors: musicality, vocabulary, originality, technique and execution.
Professor Warden said it was “difficult to predict” who would take home the gold, but American B-boy Victor Montalvo and Lithuanian B-girl Dominika Banevic, also known as Nicka, are the reigning world champions.
“They would seem like obvious choices, but with the pressure of the Olympics and a huge global audience watching, who knows,” he said.
However, the inclusion of the break proved decisive, with commentators on social media describing it as “stupidly ridiculous” and “makes me want to vomit”.
When it was announced that it would be held in Paris in 2024, former Australian professional squash player Michelle Martin said it was “like making a mockery of what the Olympics are all about”.
“The Olympics were either about a score, or it was a foot race,” she told AAP in 2020.
‘There was a definitive response and results in terms of sports.
“You bring in all that judgmental stuff and it becomes so corrupt and out of control. I just don’t understand it anymore.”
Dr Scott Goddard, a fitness researcher at Southern Cross University in Australia, said breaking has already been removed from the programming for Los Angeles 2028.
“This probably limits its perceived legitimacy – it becomes more of a novelty or one-off item, rather than giving it the chance to become a staple,” he told MailOnline.
“But overall I think it’s good that more athletes have the opportunity to showcase their talent.”