At the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Olympic committee added the four optional sports of breaking, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing into this year’s summer games.
According to the Olympics website, the Paris 2024 Olympics submitted a proposal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to integrate the four new sports that are associated with a younger audience and reward not only athletic performance, but also creativity.
Breaking’s path to the Olympics started with its inclusion in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, according to the Olympics website. Following the success there, the IOC approved breaking for the 2024 games.
“I cannot see anything but positives with that[with adding breaking] we used to have a breakdancing club here at Piedmont High School for 10-15 years.” said dance teacher Amy Moorhead
Sixteen breakers in each category will compete in head-to-head battles, showcasing their skills with power moves, footwork, freezes, and improvisation, according to the Olympics website.
Breaking competitions will be split into two events, one for B-Boys and the other for B-Girls, according to the Olympics website. There will be 16 breakers competing in each event, where they must attempt to secure a panel of judges’ votes.
“I think Skateboarding is going to be a very cool new addition to the games.” Junior Torsten Olson said.
The return of skateboarding will also come in this year’s games. According to the Olympics website, skateboarding debuted during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, alongside surfing and sport climbing. According to the Olympics website, skateboarding will have 88 competitors this year, compared to 80 participants in the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s[skateboarding] cool and a unique addition to the Olympics.” junior Harper Mand said.
This year skateboarding will feature the two disciplines of park and street skateboarding.
The biggest factor for the decision and the importance of skateboarding being added is the growth in global popularity and its rise in athleticism, according to NBC.
Similar to breaking, skateboarding will also have a panel of judges.
Like skateboarding and surfing, sport climbing debuted during the Tokyo games in 2021. According to the Olympics website, Paris will have differing rules from Tokyo, as bouldering and lead climbing will be judged together, while speed climbing will be judged separately. This will leave two competitors with gold medals for speed climbing. The playing field will also be increased from 40 climbers to 68 this year.
Sport climbing’s growing popularity and the emergence of world-class athletes helped to make a strong case for Olympic inclusion, according to the BBC.
Not only have the new games created buzz around the world and excited millions, but Piedmont students are also excited for the games.
“I am very excited to see skateboarding in the Olympics, one of my favorite skateboarders Rodney Mullen, him and other skateboarders really affected me as I was growing up,” said senior Kai Llewellyn-Smith.
Sports like skateboarding and breaking are bringing a larger, more diverse and younger audience to the Olympics.
Breakdancing was created in the Bronx by Black and Puerto Rican youth during the 80s and has since expanded to the world.
Breaking brings a diverse growth and popularity more than any other sport because of the culture and how you can express yourself with movements. Also it is one of the most recently created and recently popular sports showing its growth over the last 10 years.
“It[breaking] will bring a lot of diversity to the Olympics and people from all over the world will enjoy it… this might be something that would boost ratings, especially among the younger crowd.” Moorhead said.
