PARIS — Breakdancing – or breaking, as its practitioners prefer to call it – was born in the Bronx more than 40 years ago. So it was only right that, in the first and perhaps last men's breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, an American was on the podium.
B-boy Victor, whose real name is Victor Montalvo, won bronze on Saturday in the men's breaking competition at La Concorde, showing creativity and endurance over the course of 15 rounds to work his way onto the medal stand. He lost to French B-boy Dany Dann in his semifinal before defeating B-boy Shigekix of Japan in the bronze-medal bout.
Dany Dann went on to win the silver medal, while Phil Wizard of Canada earned gold.
The other American in the field, B-boy Jeffro, made it out of the round-robin stage and into the medal bracket, but he lost in the quarterfinals.
Victor, 30, has deep roots in breaking. His father and uncle were both B-boys, falling in love with the sport before they immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Victor followed their lead, getting his competitive start at age 14. He has since gone on to establish himself as one of the most consistent and dynamic breakers in the world.
2024 Paris Olympics: Follow USA TODAY’s coverage of the biggest names and stories of the Games.
Victor entered Saturday's competition as one of the favorites. He won two of the past three world championships, in 2021 and 2023, in addition to the 2022 edition of Red Bull BC One, which has traditionally been the most prominent annual competition in breaking.
B-girl Ami of Japan won the women's competition one day earlier, while the two Americans in the field – B-girl Logistx and B-girl Sunny – failed to advance past the preliminary stage.
Phil Wizard beats Dany Dann in Olympic breaking final
Canadian B-boy Phil Wizard, whose real name is Philip Kim, beat hometown favorite Dany Dann of France in the final at La Concorde to win the first Olympic gold medal in men's breaking history.
Phil Wizard, who is one of the most dynamic breakers in the sport, upended Shigekix of Japan in his semifinal by sweeping all three rounds, while Dany Dann slipped past B-boy Victor of the U.S. in a much closer battle, 2-1. Ultimately, it was Phil Wizard in a rout; He won all three rounds in the final battle and earned 23 of the 27 possible votes from judges.
Victor, Jeffro of Team USA got off to strong starts
B-boy Victor appeared to draw one of the tougher groups in the round-robin stage but tore through his first three opponents with relative ease − winning five of his six rounds, including sweeps of Japanese breaker Hiro10 and B-boy Lithe-ing of China. He then swept B-boy Amir of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.
B-boy Jeffro, whose real name is Jeffrey Louis, would have run into Victor in the semis but lost his quarterfinal battle to B-boy Dany Dann by the slimmest of margins: 2-1 in rounds, and 14-13 in overall votes. Jeffro, like Victor, had been dominant in the round-robin.
Will breaking be in the 2028 Olympics?
No, it won't. And it will almost certainly never be an Olympic sport again in the future.
The local organizing committee for each Olympics can propose new sports for their Games, but Los Angeles 2028 did not propose including breaking. It will feature lacrosse and flag football, among other new sports, instead.
For a sport to be included in the regular sports program at the Summer Olympics, it has to be included at three Games in a row. So the fact that breaking is being omitted from the 2028 sports program, even though the Los Angeles Games are being hosted in the country where the dance was born, is a significant blow.
Olympic breaking results, scores
Here's a look at how the knockout bracket unfolded.
- Gold medal battle: B-boy Phil Wizard defeats B-boy Dany Dann (France), 3-0
- Bronze medal battle: B-boy Victor (USA) defeats B-boy Shigekix (Japan), 3-0
- Semifinals: B-boy Dany Dann (France) defeats B-boy Victor (USA), 2-1
- Semifinals: B-boy Phil Wizard (Canada) defeats B-boy Shigekix (Japan), 3-0
- Quarterfinals: B-boy Dany Dann (France) defeats B-boy Jeffro (USA), 2-1
- Quarterfinals: B-boy Victor (USA) defeats B-boy Amir (Kazakhstan), 3-0
- Quarterfinals: B-boy Shigekix (Japan) defeats B-boy Menno (Netherlands), 3-0
- Quarterfinals: B-boy Phil Wizard (Canada) defeats B-boy Lee (Netherlands), 3-0
Breaking at the Summer Olympics standings
Here is how the standings looked through the round-robin stage, with each breakers rounds won and votes won in parathensis. Those who qualified for the knockout bracket are denoted with a Q.
Group A:
Victor, USA (5 rounds, 35 votes) *Q
Shigekix, Japan (4 rounds, 38 votes) *Q
Lithe-ing, China (3 rounds, 27 votes)
Hiro10, Japan (0 rounds, 8 votes)
Group B:
Phil Wizard, Canada (5 rounds, 40 votes) *Q
Dany Dann, France (4 rounds, 37 votes) *Q
Kuzya, Ukraine (3 rounds, 29 votes)
J Attack, Australia (0 rounds, 2 votes)
Group C:
Jeffro, USA (5 rounds, 37 votes) *Q
Lee, Netherlands (4 rounds, 29 votes) *Q
Hongten, South Korea (2 round, 27 votes)
Lagaet, France (1 round, 15 votes)
Group D:
Menno, Netherlands (6 rounds, 49 votes) *Q
Amir, Kazakhstan (4 rounds, 29 votes) *Q
Quake, Chinese Tapei (2 rounds, 26 votes)
Billy, Morocco (0 rounds, 4 votes)
When did breakdancing become an Olympic sport?
It became an Olympic sport for the 2024 Summer Games.
How is Olympic breaking scored?
Competitors were judged on five categories: Technique, execution, musicality, originality and vocabulary. The scoring is fairly subjective, with each judge simply voting for the B-boy or B-Girl who they think performed best in each category. There is no numerical scoring system like you might see in figure skating or gymnastics.
How did breaking become an Olympic sport?
Breaking is part of the new wave of sports that the International Olympic Committee has ushered in as part of a broader effort to appeal to younger fans and add an urban flair to the Summer Games. It follows the addition of sports such as skateboarding and surfing, which debuted at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
What is the history of breakdancing?
In the Bronx in the 1980s, DJ Kool Herc elongated the breaks in the beat – hence the term breaking – long enough for people to drop to the floor and start dancing. The breaks he invented became known as the "go off," a phrase that has found life generations after its origination. Read Chris Bumbaca's feature on theorigins of breakingand how it spread globally.
Breaking moves: What to know
There’s more to it than you might think.
The most obvious moves are known as power moves − big flips, spins and other acrobatic elements. Then there’s “top rock,” which is the dancing and posturing that you’ll see when breakers are upright. But there are also a bunch of little elements in between − footwork, floorwork, freezes and “get down,” which is how a breaker transitions from top rocking to the floor.
Much of breaking is in the nuances and transitions between elements. The best will be smooth in their dynamics, which is how they transition from standing up to the floor and back. And they’ll be able to do different components in opposite directions, or with slight variances to make them new.
What is the format for Olympic breaking?
It’s a bit confusing — and completely new in the world of breaking.
Rather than a straight-up bracket of one-on-one battles, the preliminary round was round-robin style: Four groups of four breakers, with each one going two rounds against the other three in their group. From there, the top two B-girls or B-boys in each group — as determined by who won the most rounds — advanced to the quarterfinals. The quarters, semis and finals were all three rounds in a traditional bracket style.
Who picks the music?
The DJ, as you would imagine, is pivotal to every breaking competition.
“The DJ is everything,” B-boy Jeffro, whose legal name is Jeffrey Louis, said in a news conference this week. “The DJ is the vibe provider. The DJ is the one that's going to challenge you on the floor.”
The DJs for Olympic competition were DJ Fleg of the United States and DJ Plash of Poland.
The International Olympic Committee licensed about 400 songs for use during competition this weekend, USA Breaking officials said. And Fleg and Plash said in a social media post that the songs range in variety and style, from old-school hip-hop to funk and even newly-created beats.
Do breakers know the music beforehand?
Though hip-hop is the soundtrack for every battle, competitors don’t know ahead of time what style or tempo of music the DJ will play during each round.
The top performers are able to both practice and prepare specific combinations of moves, but then adapt to the style of the music. Creativity is one of the key criteria for judging, which is fairly subjective.
Who is the Australian breakdancer?
More than 24 hours later, the Australian breaker named Rachael Gunn, or B-girl Raygun, was still making waves on social media for the unique style (and outfit) she displayed in Friday's opening round.
Raygun lost all three of her battles and did not receive a single vote from the judging panel. While she struggled to match the power moves and intensity of some of her competitors, the 36-year-old charmed viewers by putting her own twist on the competition, performing more basic and straightforward moves while wearing Team Australia sweats.
Raygun's performance also drew eyeballs to her story; The 36-year-old has a PhD in cultural studies and is a college professor at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Breaking at Olympics: Preliminary results and scores
Here are the round robin battle results. There were two rounds per battle, 18 total votes up for grabs, nine per round.
- Group A: Japan’s Shigekix 1 (12 votes) vs. USA’s Victor 1 (6 votes)
- Group A: China’s Lithe-Ing 2 (15 votes) vs. Japan’s Hiro10 0 (3 votes)
- Group B: Canada’s Phil Wizard 2 (13 votes) vs. France’s Dany Dann 0 (5 votes)
- Group B: Ukraine’s Kuzya 2 (17 votes) vs. Australia’s J Attack 0 (1 vote)
- Group C: USA’s Jeffro 2 (14 votes) vs. France’s Lagaet 0 (4 votes)
- Group C: Netherlands’ Lee 2 (13 votes) vs. South Korea’s Hongten 0 (5 votes)
- Group D: Netherlands’ Menno 2 (17 votes) vs. Kazakhstan's Amir 0 (1 vote)
- Group D: Chinese Taipei’s Quake 2 (18 votes) vs. Morocco’s Billy 0 (0 votes)
- Group A: Japana’s Shigekix 2 (17 votes) vs. Japan’s Hiro10 0 (1 vote)
- Group A: USA’s Victor 2 (15 votes) vs. China’s Lithe-Ing 0 (3 votes)
- Group B: Canada’s Phil Wizard 1 (10 votes) vs. Ukraine’s Kuzya 1 (8 votes)
- Group B: France’s Dany Dann 2 (18 votes) vs. Australia’s J Attack 0 (0 votes)
- Group C: USA’s Jeffro 2 (16 votes) vs. Netherlands’ Lee 0 (2 votes)
- Group C: South Korea’s Hongten 1 (11 votes) vs. France’s Lagaet 1 (7 votes)
- Group D: Kazakhstan's Amir 2 (15 votes) vs. Morocco’s Billy 0 (3 votes)
- Group D: Netherlands’ Menno 2 (15 votes) vs. Chinese Taipei’s Quake 0 (3 votes)
- Group A: China’s Lithe-Ing 1 (9 votes) vs. Japan’s Shigekix1 (9 votes)
- Group A: USA’s Victor 2 (14 votes) vs. Japan’s Hiro10 0 (4 votes)
- Group B: Canada’s Phil Wizard 2 (17 votes) vs. Australia’s J Attack 0 (1 vote)
- Group B: France’s Dany Dann 2 (14 votes) vs. Ukraine’s Kuzya 0 (4 votes)
- Group C: South Korea’s Hongten 1 (11 votes) vs. USA’s Jeffro 1 (7 votes)
- Group C: Netherlands’ Lee 2 (14 votes) vs. France’s Lagaet 0 (4 votes)
- Group D: Kazakhstan's Amir 2 (13 votes) vs. Chinese Taipei’s Quake 0 (5 votes)
- Group D: Netherlands Menno 2 (17 votes) vs. Morocco’s Billy 0 (1 vote)
