Sponsorship from Nike... now Olympic medal is next on wish list for breakdancer
MODEL WANTS TO BE THE BEST IN WORLD
A LEADING breakdancer who hails from Derby has spoken about his dream of winning a medal in the new Olympic sport.
Kid Karam said participating in “breaking”, as it will be called at the Paris Games in 2024, would provide an opportunity to take it to “the next level”.
Last year Karam, real name Karam Singh, became the first breakdancer to sign a sponsorship deal with Nike. He has also modelled for fashion brands including Fendi.
Breaking was officially elevated to the Paris programme in late 2020 after its hugely successful debut at the 2018 Youth Olympics. UK Sport is yet to allocate funding following the recent inauguration of Breaking GB as the body responsible for the sport in this country, but its leading protagonists are pushing for that change.
Karam said: “My aims and goals have always been to be the best in the world and there’s not much bigger than going to the Olympics and getting a medal – it’s a great opportunity to take breaking to the next level.”
“At the start there was a lot of uproar about the Olympics because people didn’t want the rawness of what we are doing to be diluted; they didn’t want to lose that underground scene and for it to become too commercialised.
“But as time has progressed it’s not like we’ve had to make massive changes. Seeing how well it did at the Youth Olympics, I think people are getting over it and there’s not so much opposition.”
Karam started breakdancing after watching a demonstration at a local fair. In 2008, his crew “Trinity Warriors” won the world title, beating a rival crew from South Korea.
He said: “The origins will always be there, but it’s important that we move on too.
“I started breaking at the age of seven, and if someone had told me then that it was going to get into the Olympics, I’d have said they were bonkers.”
Breakdancing at the Olympics will put competitors in a series of head-to-head “throw downs”, with the winners determined by a panel of judges based on set criteria including technique, performance and creativity.
Roxanne Milliner grew up as a promising trampolinist, winning a junior synchro world title and regularly competing against future Olympic medallist Bryony Page, before switching to breaking in her teens. Now 32 and competing under the stage name “Roxy”, she is one of the most prominent B-girls in the business and has prior experience of the Olympics having been part of a troupe that performed during the opening ceremony for the Beijing Games in 2008.
For Roxy, the Olympics offer an unprecedented opportunity for breakdancing to showcase the athleticism of its top stars and move further away from any retro connections that are hampering its ability to attract new generations of talent.
She said: “I’m coming to the end of my career and it’s great to see the opportunities this is bringing for breakers, to get respect from people in general rather than it just being seen as something you used to do as a kid.”