What is Breaking Olympics, introduced in Paris Olympics for the first time

What is Breaking, introduced in Paris Plympics for the first time

Breaking (also called b-girling, b-boying, or breakdancing) debuted at the Paris Olympics 2024. The International Olympic Committee took a historic decision to include the Breaking Olympics for the first time in the Paris Olympics.

What is breakdancing?

Breaking is a form of street dancing that began as one of the main elements of hip-hop culture. Its core includes coordination, stylized footwork, and athletics.

Break dancing originated in New York City in the late 1960s and early ’70s. It incorporated moves from various sources, including martial arts and gymnastics.

Breaking is a one-on-one battle in which athletes are judged based on their dance moves. There are two events: one for women called ‘b-girls’ and the other for men called ‘b-boys’.

Breaking moves

Breaking involves many different moves, such as top rocks and down rocks. Top rock is when the athlete is dancing whilst standing. It is usually how they start the routine before going down to the floor.

Down rock refers to moves performed on the floor, with the hands supporting the athlete as much as the feet. Athletes often perform a mix of leg sweeps, swings, kicks, and 360-degree spins. Numerous fast spins in a succession are known as a power move.

These are intricate, gravity-defined spinning sequences when an athlete’s feet rarely touch the ground. The opposite of a power move is a freeze where dancers stop completely during a routine, usually in a position demonstrating the athlete’s strength and balance required for breaking.

Rules and judging criteria

The competition has 32 dancers: 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls. Each breaker will face off in a one-on-one battle consisting of three 60-second throw-downs (each round is called a throw-down).

The dancers must adapt their style and improvise to the beat of the DJ’s music to get votes from five judges. The criteria for judgment are technique, vocabulary (variety of moves), execution, originality, and musicality.

The judges will have a digital slider to slide towards the dancer winning the battle based on each criterion. Each criterion accounts for 20% of the final score. The average of the five criteria sliders will decide the round winner.