The Olympic Games are considered the largest and most prestigious competition in the sports-world. With its ceremonial lineage and celebratory style, the games commemorate the greatest athletes in the world. Its extensive history since the first Games in 776 B.C. further adds to the prestige that Olympians carry with them for being so much as admitted to compete. However, the 2024 Paris Games will introduce an odd sport that some may not even consider to be a sport: breakdancing – a wild and advanced style of dance. Breakdancing has been misconstrued as a form of easy imitation and maybe even feigning a complex dance presented by skilled breakers. However, it is a challenging practice which requires deliberate movements to master such techniques. Fashionable during the 1970s and 80s, the style surged in popularity in New York City especially. Now, breakdancing is getting some renewed recognition by being placed on the most watched athletic podium globally.

Adding breakdancing to the Olympic lineup is one of the movements by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to try to attain a larger youth-based audience watching the Games. It is also worth noting that despite this plan by the IOC, they do not plan to add baseball and three-on-three basketball games to the 2024 Games. Both of these sports have been mentioned as potential additions to an already packed agenda of sporting events. Breakdancing has previously been part of the Olympics in some form as it was previously tried in the 2018 Youth Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In those trials, B-boys and B-girls (breaker-boys and breaker-girls) from Russia and Japan came in first place.

Breakdancing could become an exciting and fresh event to watch in 202. Its addition may expand the new group of athletes arriving to compete in this fun throwback sport as well as adding another attraction to youth watching the Olympic programming. This sport provides a new outlet for both younger fans and adults who want to feel like they are back in the ‘70s.