FASTER, higher, stronger states the Olympic motto. Now, it seems, down with the kids is more the mantra.
A few purist eyebrows have been raised by the proposal that breakdancing be included in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Organisers have announced that it is among four sports they will propose to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), along with surfing, climbing and skateboarding, which will all debut at Tokyo 2020. Other sports have fallen from grace. Squash failed in its bid for inclusion in Paris, as did billiard sports and chess. Karate, which makes its debut in 2020, also gets the chop.
Tony Estanguet, a three-time canoeing Olympic champion and head of the Paris 2024 organising committee, said the new sports would make the Games “more urban” and “more artistic”.
Cue sniffs from traditionalists peering down their Olympian noses. Surely breakdancing isn’t a “proper” sport. Well, why not? The athleticism and dedication involved is eye-popping, and all the more impressive precisely because breakdancing is disregarded as a sport and there’s little opportunity for its young stars to earn hard cash.
And anyway, the Olympics is the home of weird sports. Where else do you find folk clad in Lycra onesies hurtling feet first down an icy chute lying prostrate on a tea tray? And if you thought synchronised swimming was an acquired taste, try to get your head around the somewhat contradictory concept of solo synchronised swimming, which featured in the 1984 Games. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this event was canned straight after. Another one-hit wonder was roller hockey, which featured in 1992 and is best described as ice hockey for those lacking an ice rink. One of the strangest sports that does endure, however, is race walking, which is trundled out every four years without fail. The big question is: where does it go in between times? While runners of every level are a common sight on our roads, where do the race walkers strut their stuff? I suspect this is a mystery that might remained unsolved.
So, why not breakdancing? Granted, it’s not a sport you see much in Scotland’s urban environs. This may be down to the puddles. More popular, however, is pavement cycling, with extra points for getting as close as possible to pedestrians without actually knocking them over (bonus points for speed).
The Paris proposal to include breakdancing has not come entirely out of the blue. It was included in the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018 and was hugely popular. Russia’s Sergei Chernyshev, competing under the moniker Bumblebee, won “breaking” gold for boys, while Japan’s Ramu Kawai won the girls’ title. Team GB had no breakdancers in Buenos Aires, which saw competitors involved in head-to-head “battles” set to vibrant music and displaying amazing moves to the cheers of sell-out crowds. It is reported this format would be used in Paris. Well, if it ain’t broke ...
The IOC will now consider the proposals for the new sports, and we will learn in December 2020 if breakdancing will get the chance to turn the Olympics on its head.
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