Break dancing provisionally approved for Paris Olympics

PanARMENIAN.Net - The International Olympic Committee voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, June 25 in support of adding break dancing to the roster of sports for the Paris 2024 Summer Games, The Philadelphia Inquirer reveals.

The approval is provisional, as the IOC will continue to monitor breaking through the next year. Olympic inclusion would not be fully confirmed until December 2020.

The committee has given the thumbs-up to four sports: breaking, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing. Breaking is the newest to the show. All the rest were already approved for Tokyo 2020.

On Tuesday, IOC members praised the proposed sports for their affordability and popularity in youth culture. Samira Ashghari, who represents Afghanistan and who at 25 is the IOC’s youngest member, said, “We have to respect the sports that young people play.”

Before the decision, sports economist Andrew Zimbalist said breakers could expect “incremental gains” but not an elevation to the status of a major sport.

The WDSF Breaking World Championships were held this week in Nanjing, China.