Latest Sports News Olympics Sport

Breaking into Paris 2024: Official announcement

Breakdancing has been officially accepted into the Olympic Games after the finalised Olympic programme was released earlier this evening.

The decision is good news for British competitors who will now have a chance to represent their country at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

Competitors in skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing will also have the chance to represent Team GB whilst the bid for parkour to be included was rejected.

The full list of sports can be found here.

Sam Phillips is a professional breaker and dance coach from Devon.

Phillips, or Bboy Sheku as he is better known, has 27 titles to his name following his most recent victory at the Break Mission International 1vs1 Breaking Championships in September, making him a two time champion.  

Speaking to Parklife Sport, he gave this reaction to the announcement.

“Breaking has took a huge step forward from where it started, especially now it has been included in the Olympic Games.”

Sam Phillips AKA Bboy Sheku competing against Karam Singh AKA Kid Karam.

“This decision is the key to breakdancing getting more recognition, job opportunities and success.

“I believe this will bring more interest to the dance world” he said.

There was some opposition to the bid with claims that breakdancing could not be considered a sport, but Phillips disagrees.

“I think breaking will always be an art, but there is an essence of athleticism too.”

He said, “That’s one of the reasons why I break- having something to work towards and expressing myself at competitions.”

Breaking’s inclusion could be a chance for Phillips himself to represent Team GB with the 24-year-old saying, “it would be a dream come true.”

Phillips trains all year round for competitions and hopes that COVID-19 won’t stop the Red Bull BC One UK qualifier from being held next year.

“I work hard all year round to compete nationally and internationally. The Red Bull BC One final is the main event and is the closest competition to the Olympics in the breakdancing world.”

The new inclusions highlight a change on the Olympic committee as the games look to become more inclusive and attract a younger audience as well as athletes.

The inclusions of these new sports has however come at a cost as teams face a reduced athlete quota.

Weightlifting has seen the largest reduction, 120 down from 196, whilst also having four events removed from the programme.

The decision is believed to have been fuelled by the sports recent doping and corruption scandals but will mean the sport is more gender inclusive.

Athletes across the world are currently preparing themselves for the delayed Tokyo 2020 games but those who compete in the newly added sports will be excited by the prospect of potentially representing their country at the biggest sporting event in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *