TOPSY-TURVY OLYMPICS
Dismay as it’s revealed that breakdancing may be an official sport … ahead of squash
THE headspin, the jackhammer and the windmill could become the newest Olympic battlegrounds as organisers look to introduce breakdancing to the tournament.
The urban dance form is being considered by bosses of the 2024 Paris Games, who ruled out submissions from billiards and chess to be involved.
But the decision has caused a row, with long overlooked squash feeling hard done by.
British former squash star Nick Matthew said the possibility of breakdancing, along with surfing, climbing and skateboarding, being added to the Olympic disciplines was ‘soul-destroying’.
He claimed that breakdancing was a niche activity and therefore outside the criteria set by the International Olympic Committee.
Breakdancing is performed by ‘bboys’ and ‘ b-girls’, standing for ‘break boy’ and ‘break girl’ and originally used to describe the dancers who performed to the ‘breaks’ or drum beats of hip-hop music, developed in New York in the 1970s.
While there was scepticism from Olympic purists about the selection of new sports, top British breakdancer Karam Singh, who performs as BBoy Kid Karam, said it should be viewed as a sport because of the training involved.
The Derby University student, 20, who works part-time in a Sky call centre to fund his dancing career, said: ‘It is overwhelming news. I would be over the moon to represent my country on a more major scale. People would look at us in a much better light.
‘Breakdancing is very reliant on core strength. I train in the gym four or five times a week, I try to stay as light as possible and diet and hydration are important.
‘In France there is a lot of funding for breakdancing, whereas I am selffunded, I do it all myself. It is very important that we get a governing body, we definitely need something in place and a selection system.’
Paco Boxy, director of the British Breaking League, said that including breakdancing in the Olympics would give it credibility.
Dancers sponsored by energy drink companies such as Red Bull and Monster can earn up to £80,000 a year and often have large social media followings, but there is no governing body for breakdancing in Britain, meaning a medal for Team GB would be unlikely.
No British participant was involved when breakdancing was included in the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires last year, attracting sell- out crowds and a younger demographic which the IOC is striving to appeal to with the Olympics and Paralympics. The dance form is scored by a panel of judges, who assess performances according to three main categories of physical quality, interpretative quality and artistic quality. However, three-times World Open and British Open squash champion Mr Matthew, 38, disputed whether breakdancing met the IOC criteria for being ‘truly global’. ‘We seem as far away as ever, and sports that were seemingly behind us in the queue seem to jump in front of us,’ said the now retired star, from Sheffield. ‘It’s incredibly disappointing and I’m sure everyone in the sport is begging the question what else do we have to do? ‘It baffles me that something that to me is more of a hobby and a youth movement gets in ahead of a sport [like squash].’ The potential new disciplines were announced in a tweet from the organisers, who said Paris 2024 would offer ‘four new spectacular sports’ to ‘revolutionise the history of the Games’. The IOC regularly refreshes the list of sports to attract new audiences, and several additions, including surfing and climbing, will make their debut in 2020. Golf was reinstated for Rio 2016, the first time it had been an Olympic sport since 1904.