AUSTIN (KXAN) — "B-Boys" and "B-Girls" from around the world will descend upon Paris to show off their moves in one of the newest Olympic events — breaking.
Also known as break dancing, breaking will make its Olympic debut at the 2024 Games, and fans better savor the moment because it's not on the program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Thirty-two competitors, 16 men (B-Boys) and 16 women (B-Girls), will dance their hearts out over two days, Aug. 9-10, in one-minute best-of-three battles in front of nine judges. Once one competitor is done with a routine, the other immediately responds in a true battle-style format.
All of the routines are improvised, too. The competitors don't know what music will be played, so everything they do is essentially stream-of-consciousness but in a fluid, stylistic and aesthetically pleasing break-dance fashion.
Judges score the competitors on six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality. A good performance with plenty of creativity is the key to a high score as it counts for 60% while the other categories make up the remaining 40%.
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On the men's side, American Victor Montalvo (B-Boy Victor) won the 2024 world championship and is considered the gold-medal favorite, but Canada's Philip Kim (B-Boy Phil Wizard), USA's Jeffrey Louis (B-Boy Jeffro) and 2022 European champ Danis Cibil (B-Boy Danny) from France are considered to be contenders.
Louis is from Houston and spoke with KXAN's Jala Washington before he qualified for the Olympics. He said his style is a "vibe of explosions."
"It captures people and you’re able to just go with it, even if you don’t understand it," he said.
The men's finals are scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT, Aug. 10 and will air live on the E! Network. It will also be part of NBC's primetime coverage at 7 p.m. on KXAN.
On the women's side, Americans Sunny Choi (B-Girl Sunny) and Logan Edra (B-Girls Logistx) headline the field along with the 2023 world champ 17-year-old Dominika Banevic (B-Girl Nicka) from Lithuania.
The women's finals are scheduled for 1 p.m., Aug. 9 and will air live on the E! Network. It will also be part of NBC's primetime coverage at 7 p.m. on KXAN.
The other new event is a new spin on getting downriver — kayak cross. It's under the canoe umbrella and pits four kayakers against each other in an all-out race to the finish line. They start on a ramp in gates from above the course, much like motocross racers, and shoot down into the water hoping to take an early lead. They'll paddle through six downstream gates and two upstream gates and the first one to the finish line wins. It's the only event in the canoeing program that pits competitors against each other and not just against the clock.
Artistic swimming will have a men's division for the first time in Olympic history and the event will feature a team acrobatic routine round. Here are other notable changes:
