Breaking to Make Its Olympic Debut in Paris in 2024

Breaking will make its Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games.

Fabian Ramella/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

Breaking has been confirmed as one of four additional sports approved for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were also provisionally added to the 2024 program by the Organising Committee in June 2019. Breaking and sport climbing first appeared as medal events at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018, while skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were previously approved to make their Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games.

In February 2019, organizers first proposed adding breaking as a new Olympic sport in Paris. Tony Estanguet, a former Olympian and head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, said at the time that new sports would make the Games "more urban" and "more artistic."

A final decision on adding breaking to the 2024 Games wasn't supposed to be reached until after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Despite the Summer Games' postponement amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee proceeded with its scheduled meeting this month.

Breakdancing started in the 1970s in the Bronx as a part of hip-hop culture and eventually spread worldwide. At the 2018 Youth Olympics, dancers between the ages of 16-18 competed head-to-head in either men's, women's or mixed-team battles. The breakers were judged on six criteria: personality, technique, variety, creativity, performativity and musicality. For a detailed look at the competition's three phases, you can check out SI's breakdown here.

In Paris, breaking has been given a prestigious downtown venue, joining sport climbing and 3-on-3 basketball at Place de la Concorde.

Surfing will be held far from France–more than 15,000 kilometers (9,000 miles) away in the Pacific Ocean–at the beaches of Tahiti, as the IOC already agreed in March.

The 2024 Summer Games will be hosted in Paris from July 26-Aug. 11.

The Associated Press contributed to the report.