I’m looking forward to breakdancing as an Olympic sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Too bad it won’t be a sport of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Why is breaking not a sport in 2028? I asked Chat GPT. It fed me some PR fluff about “evaluation criteria” and aligning with American sports culture. Give me a break!
The International Olympic Committee’s statement says:
The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States.
The five new sports are: baseball, softball, cricket, lacrosse, flag football, and squash. [*cough* breaking not included]
Breakdancing isn’t American enough?
What a bunch of hogwash. If breakdancing belongs as a sport in any country, it would be America, where it originated.
Breakdancing isn’t international enough?
Breaking at the 2023 European Games saw medals going to: Netherlands, France, Ukraine, Austria, and Lithuania.
Here’s the real answer
The Olympic bigwigs are scared breaking will outshine their precious gymnastics. Both gymnastics and breaking involve incredible athletics and graded performances. Gymnastics is all about nitpicking perfection – you’ve got commentators droning on about the tiniest wobbles. Breaking? It’s raw, it’s artistic, it’s FUN.
If you let the fun sport of breakdancing in, then you need to let in other fun sports like Ninja Warrior. (Which, really, Ninja Warrior is ALREADY an Olympic sport… except it’s for horses. I’m referring to that obstacle course that horses compete in. They should rename “equestrian show jumping” to “Horse Warrior.”)
Here’s my pitch: Keep breaking in the Olympics, but make it part of gymnastics. Add it as the seventh event. Bump the team size up to six, with that sixth member being the breaker. Let them rock their own style – different outfit and all.
The Olympics need to wake up and realize that breaking isn’t just a fad – it’s a legitimate, thrilling sport that deserves its place on the world stage. Excluding it from LA 2028 is a massive missed opportunity and a slap in the face to the breaking community. It’s time for the IOC to break out of their outdated mindset and let the real fun begin!