New Olympic Sporting Events Coming To Paris

14.05.2024 - 21:33 / forbes.com / Paris Olympics

The Olympics are rooted in tradition, with the first official Summer Olympics staged in 1896 in Athens, Greece that drew athletes from 13 nations. Ever since then, the marathon has been a mainstay in Olympic programming.

But over the decades, dozens of sports have been added to the Olympics, and this year is no different, with a bevvy of competitions that should capture attention from younger viewers.

The biggest news? For the first time ever, break dancing will be an Olympic sport making its debut on the world’s main stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.

Mark your calendars: The Summer Olympics will take place from July 26 to Aug. 11 in Paris. The opening ceremony will take place along the Seine on July 26.

Breaking is an urban dance form that originated in the United States in the 1970s.

“With roots in hip-hop culture, breaking first took form in the lively block parties in the Bronx borough of New York, and is characterized by acrobatic movements, stylised footwork, and the key role played by the DJ and the MC (master of ceremonies) during battles,” according to the official Olympics site.

Break dancing won over fans in the 2018 Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with more than 1 million viewers tuning into the head-spinning, back-flipping dance competition, according to NBC Olympics. Now, it’s made its way to the main Olympic stage.

The breaking competition in the 2024 Paris Olympics will feature two events: one for men and one for women. Sixteen B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will face off in solo battles, improvising their athletic-artistic moves to the beats that DJs spin.

Both break dancing competitions will be held at Concorde, which is a popular Parisian square that’s been transformed into an open-air arena that will also host another popular urban sport — 3 v. 3 basketball.

Lookout for moves like the turtle (when a dancer spins with hands planted on the ground and legs in the air) and windmills (rotating on a shoulder with legs split in the air).

Breakdancing events will be held Aug. 9 and 10.

So far, 12 of the 32 break dancing athlete spots have been filled for the 2024 Paris Olympics, including two representing the United States. They are: Victor Montalvo and Sunny Choi.

Two more qualifying series are set, the first in Shanghai (May 16-19) and the second in Budapest (June 20-23).

The world’s best skateboarders will also descend on Paris for the Summer Games. Skateboarding, which took off in the U.S. in the 1950s as an offshoot of surf culture, made its Olympic debut during the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo (which were postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic).

It’s back for the 2024 games, also held at the Place de La Concorde in Paris.

Skateboarding has two styles of