Team USA breakers Victor Montavlo, Sunny Choi and Jeffrey Louis spoke Wednesday on tuning out the noise and celebrating breaking culture ahead of the sport’s first-ever Olympics event. “Everyone has different stories and we all get to share in something that transcends language even,” Choi told reporters. “And so it’s something that I’m so grateful to be a part of.”
Breaking is one of the newest Olympic sports, and there’s no shortage of intrigue among fans of the Games.
The sport consists of dance battles, where the participants- called "B-Boys" and "B-Girls" - go one-on-one using different moves.
According to the Paris Olympics, the sport is characterized by "acrobatic movements, stylised footwork and the key role played by the DJ and the MC (master of ceremonies) during battles."
The competition is judged on various factors including musicality, personality, creativity, technique, variety and performativity.
And although the event is called breaking, many viewers refer to it as breakdancing, though that isn't the technical name.
One of Team USA’s breakers, Victor Montalvo, said in an interview with Today that “breakdancing” was a term created by the media.
Montalvo even said there’s a nickname for those who use the term.
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“They call them toys, people that don’t know anything about the dance,” Montalvo said.
Breaking makes its first appearance this weekend after first popping up at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. The success there, with over one million viewers, helped lead the sport to its debut in Paris.
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Competition officially starts Friday and medals will be awarded Saturday.
History will be made, as these are not only the first breaking Olympic medals, but possibly the last. The sport is not listed on the program for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Along with Montalvo, three other breakers will compete in Paris- Jeffrey Louis, Sunny Choi and Logan Edra.
The full breaking schedule can be found here.
