How does Olympic breaking work? Format, rules, judging and more

Thirty-two dancers will compete for gold this summer when breaking makes its Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games.

The breakers will compete in two events — one for men with 16 B-boys and another for women with 16 B-girls. They will showcase a combination of power moves, including windmills, the 6-step, and freezes; the moves must be adapted to their personal styles and improvised to music in order to secure each judge’s vote.

The women’s competition takes place Aug. 9; the men compete on Aug. 10. Each event consists of a round-robin followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and medal battles.

Breaking is one of the four foundational elements of hip-hop — DJing, rapping, break-dancing and graffiti — which emerged from the Bronx borough of New York in the 1970s and became recognized as a competitive sport over the past several decades.

In 2020, the International Olympic Committee added breaking to the 2024 Summer Olympic lineup after more than 1 million viewers tuned into the sport at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, according to NBC News. Breaking is the only sport making its debut at this year’s Games.

Here are the essential elements, rules and athletes to keep an eye on in Paris.

When and where does the breaking competition take place at the Olympics?

The breaking competitions take place at Place de la Concorde in Paris, France.
The women’s event is scheduled for Aug. 9.
The men’s event begins on Aug. 10.

What are the rules?

Breakers, better known as B-girls and B-boys, will battle in one-on-one competitive dance matchups. The battles are divided into best of three rounds, which are called throwdowns.
A throwdown begins the moment a breaker starts their performance. Each breaker is given up to 60 seconds to complete their routine with the opposing breaker responding in a throwdown.

What is the format?

16 B-girls and 16 B-boys will compete in two separate medal events.
Each set of 16 breakers will be divided into four groups of four participants competing in a round-robin stage. The four participants will be matched up in one-on-one battles with all the other breakers in their respective groups.
The two victorious breakers from each group will advance to the quarterfinal stage. These eight breakers will be seeded from 1 to 8. The lower seed will face the higher seed in one-on-one battles. A knockout format will begin and continue through the semifinals and finals stages.

The three elements of breaking

Top Rock – Dance moves that are performed while the breaker is standing.
Down Rock – The part of the breaker’s performance that is composed on the floor.
Freeze – When the breaker holds a pose in an unusual position during the middle of their performance.

How is breaking judged?

A panel of nine judges will score each battle and every round based on five criteria: technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality and originality.
Each category accounts for 20% of the final score.
Judges will use a digital slider to score battles. The slider will shift in real-time toward the breaker who is outperforming the opposing dancer in a specific category.

Penalties and disqualifications: the misbehavior button

All judges have three misbehavior buttons that they may use to penalize a breaker when they act or gesture inappropriately: mild, moderate and severe. The WDSF Breaking Rules and Regulations Manual states the complete details, including examples.
A mild misbehavior (button 1) is an accidental, unintentional or nonaggressive act or gesture. A 3% point deduction will be applied to the judge’s total score of that athlete.
A moderate misbehavior (button 2) is a non-violent, but intentional act or gesture meant to intimidate or otherwise degrade a specific person (or people). A 6% point deduction will be applied to the athlete’s total score.
A severe misbehavior (button 3) is an intentional act or gesture that is overtly aggressive, violent or sexual in nature. A 10% point deduction will be applied to the athlete’s total score. If a majority of judges call an act severe, the offending competitor or crew will be immediately up for disqualification, pending final approval from the chair.

Who is competing?

The breakers selected for the Games are highly decorated, having won several competitions across the sport. Some of the athletes will be competing under a universality quota place, meaning they were selected to represent nations with less established programs in specific sports.

The 16 B-girls (and one reserve) who qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Dominika Banevič (Lithuania) – “Nicka” won the B-girls 2023 WDSF World Championships.
Sunny Choi (USA) – “Sunny” won the 2023 WDSF Pan American Championships.
Fatima Zahra El-Mamouny (Morocco) – “Elmamouny” won the 2023 WDSF African Championships.
India Sardjoe (Netherlands) – “India” won the 2023 WDSF European Games.
Liu Qingyi (China) – “671” won the 2023 WDSF Asian Games.
Rachael Gunn (Australia) – “Raygun” won the 2023 WDSF Oceania Breaking Championships.
Ami Yuasa (Japan) – “AMI” finished first at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary, and second place at the OQS in Shanghai.
Ayumi Fukushima, (Japan) – “Ayumi” finished first at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, China, and second place at OQS in Budapest.
Sya Dembélé (France) – “Syssy” has two top-three finishes since 2022.
Logan Elanna Edra (USA) – “Logistx” has five top-three finishes since 2019.
Zeng Yingying (China) – “Ying Zi” has one top-three finish since 2019.
Kateryna Pavlenko (Ukraine) – “Kate” has one top-three finish since 2023.
Antilai Sandrini (Italy) – “Anti” has three top-three finishes since 2021.
Vanessa Cartaxo (Portugal) – “Vanessa” earned an unused Universality Place spot at the Olympics.
Anna Ponomarenko (Ukraine) – “Stefani” earned an unused Universality Place spot at the Olympics.
Carlota Dudek (France) – “Senorita Carlota” earned a reserve spot at the Olympics as a member of the host country.
Manizha Talash (Afghanistan) – “Nicka” earned a spot as a member of the IOC Refugee Olympic team.

The 16 B-boys who qualified:

Victor Montalvo, (USA) – “B-Boy Victor” won the B-boys 2023 WDSF World Championship.
Bilal Mallakh, (Morocco) – “Billy” won the 2023 WDSF African Championships.
Danis Civil, (France) – “Dany Dann” won the 2023 WDSF European Games.
Jeffery Dan Arpie Dunne, Australia – “J Attack” won the 2023 WDSF Oceania Breaking Championships.
Phillip Kim, (Canada) – “Phil Wizard” won the 2023 WDSF Pan American Games.
Shigeyuki Nakarai, (Japan) – “Shigekix” won the 2023 WDSF Asian Games.
Lee-Lou Demierre, (Netherlands) – “Lee” finished first at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest and Shanghai.
Kim Hongyul, (South Korea) – “Hongten” has three top-three rankings since 2023. This includes a top-three finish at the Olympic qualifier series in Budapest.
Hiroto Ono, (Japan) – “Hiro10 ” has four top-three finishes since 2022.
Qi Xiangyu, (China) – “Lithe-ing” has two top three finishes since 2021.
Jeffrey Louis, (USA) – “Jeffro” has six top-three finishes since 2022.
Amir Zakirov, (Kazakhstan) – “Amir” has four top-three finishes since 2018. This includes a top-three finish at the Olympic qualifier series in Budapest.
Menno Van Gorp, (Netherlands) – “Menno” has three top-three finishes since 2019.
Sun Chen, (Chinese Taipei) – “Quake” earned an unused Universality Place spot at the Olympics.
Oleg Kuznietsov, (Ukraine) – “Kuzya” earned an unused Universality Place spot at the Olympics.
Gaëtan Alin, (France) – “Lagaet” earned a reserved spot at the Olympics as a member of the host country.

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