25 Jun 2019 15:49
The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) warmly welcomes today’s decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session to include Breaking on the sports programme of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Breaking made its Olympic debut last year at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, but its inclusion on the Paris 2024 programme is the first time any DanceSport discipline has appeared at an Olympic Games. The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August.
“Today is a historic day for the DanceSport community and the discipline of Breaking,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “We are sure Breaking will be an outstanding success in Paris and will add lots of energy, athletic excellence, innovation and youth appeal to the Olympic Games. WDSF, together with the Breaking community, is ready to collaborate closely with Paris 2024 and the IOC to make the Olympic dream of the world’s best b-boys and b-girls come true.”
Breaking, together with Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing were proposed in February by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for inclusion at the XXXIII Olympiad. In March, the IOC Executive Board (EB) gave the green light to the proposal, which was then put to a vote by the IOC Session (the assembly of all IOC members), currently meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Paris 2024 organisers proposed the four sports in response to a new level of flexibility afforded to Olympic Games Host Cities to encourage innovation in the Olympic programme. Host Cities, beginning with Tokyo 2020, now have the option of suggesting new sports and events for inclusion in their edition of the Games that are not binding on future Games hosts.
“This is historic,” said b-boy Mounir, the Vagabond Crew member who joined the Paris 2024 delegation presenting at today’s IOC Session. “We were humble, but we never doubted. A pessimist never changed the world. We started from nothing, we learned how to make more with less, we believed in the impossible and today the impossible becomes possible.”
Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing were also included on the programme for Tokyo 2020, making Breaking the only new sport currently being considered for the 2024 programme. A competition format featuring 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls is anticipated for Paris 2024.
The final decision on Breaking’s inclusion at Paris 2024 will only be taken after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in December 2020. In the meantime, the IOC will have a monitoring programme in place that will look at the performance, management, governance and integrity of each of the four sports.
Today’s thumbs up by the IOC Session recognises the worldwide appeal and growth of Breaking, as exemplified by the success of Breaking’s three medal events at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, where upwards of 30,000 people came each day to see the competition.
The 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship, held just two days ago in Nanjing, China, was hailed as an outstanding success as well. Over 150 b-boys and b-girls from 66 countries, including some of the biggest names in Breaking, competed in the event, which also served as qualifier for the Breaking competition at the first edition of the World Urban Games (WUG) in September in Budapest, Hungary. The qualification events for the WDSF World Championship in Nanjing were conducted by WDSF National Member Federations.
23 Jun 2019 17:57
B-girl Ami (JPN) and B-boy Menno (NED) outlasted a strong international pool of 150 breakers to win the 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship today in Nanjing, China, earning them the title of World Champions.
Dynamic styles and energetic flows punctuated the b-girl 1vs1 final at the Lishui Sports Park Gymnasium, where Ami sweep Sunny (USA) in four straight rounds.
Menno had a much tougher go of it against Issei (JPN) in the b-boy 1vs1 final. The two went toe to toe in a hard-fought battle that split the rounds 2-2. Menno was crowned champion thanks to a 17-11 overall vote count.
“I’m so happy because the odds were so big but I still won,” said Ami. “This was so different from normal Breaking jams. I feel like this was real competition so I tried to do many moves and I also tried to dance on a big stage.”
Menno, who said he was feeling agitated after struggling with jet lag in the preselection round, said: “I feel really happy because I trained really hard for it. It’s actually a really big relief because it takes a lot of sacrifice, all the time you put into this … Winning it is an amazing feeling for sure.”
Finishing third were B-girl Jilou (GER) and B-boy Lussy Sky (UKR), who defeated Ying Zi (CHN) and Lil G (VEN), respectively, in third-place playoffs.
Gold, silver and bronze medals were presented to the winning breakers by World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) President Shawn Tay.
The World Championship featured some of the world’s best Breakers from 66 countries in total, including eight Olympians who participated in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Buenos Aires last year. A list of all b-boys and b-girls who competed in Nanjing can be found here.
YOG gold medallist B-boy Bumblebee (RUS) finished fifth in Nanjing, while bronze medallist Shigekix (JPN) came in seventh.
The World Championship was streamed live on The Olympic Channel. All the battles from the Round Robin stage onward can be viewed on DanceSport Total.
The Championship doubled as a qualifying event for the first GAISF World Urban Games in Budapest, Hungary this September. A list of the 12 b-boys and 12 b-girls that qualified will be announced shortly.
B-girl Final
Ami (JPN) vs Sunny (USA) = Ami 4-0
B-boy Final
Menno (NED) vs Issei (JPN) = Menno 2-2
B-girl 3rd place
Jilou (GER) vs Ying Zi (CHN) = Jilou 3-1
B-boy 3rd place
Lussy Sky (UKR) vs Lil G (VEN) = Lussy Sky 3-1
B-girl Semis
B-girl Ami (JPN) vs Jilou (GER) = Ami
Ying Zi (CHN) vs Sunny (USA) = Sunny
B-boy Semis
Menno (NED) vs Lussy Sky (UKR) = Menno
Lil G (VEN) vs Issei (JPN) = Issei
23 Jun 2019 13:48
WDSF World Breaking Championship 2019 medalists are here!
Menno (Netherlands) and Issei (Japan) faced each other in the b-boy final. Two strong dancers with many big titles in their pockets, but today Menno was the one who was able to get the trophy home!
Ami (Japan) and Sunny (United States) battled each other in the b-girl final. Well done from both dancers! This time Ami took the win with more arsenal left after the long day.
Congratulations to all the medalists!
B-girls:
1. Ami (Japan)
2. Sunny (United States)
3. Jilou (Germany)
B-boys:
1. Menno (Netherlands)
2. Issei (Japan)
3. Lussy Sky (Ukraine)
23 Jun 2019 11:48
The result for top 4 b-girls and top 8 b-boys are out!
B-girls Ami (Japan), Jilou (Germany), Ying Zi (China) and Sunny (United States) and b-boys Shigekix (Japan), Issei (Japan), Lil G (Venezuela), Lussy Sky (Ukraine), Bumblebee (Russia), El Nino (United States),Phil Wizard (Canada) and Menno (Netherlands) will show twelve different styles with high level techniques! But whose day is it going to be today? Who will be able to bring some presence and soul on the stage and execute their moves clean? Watch the semifinals and finals on Olympic Channel or DanceSportTotal YouTube channel to find out who will the World Champions 2019!
23 Jun 2019 07:54
The line ups for the top 16 b-girls and the top 32 b-boys in the WDSF World Breaking Champion are looking strong! Live stream is now on on Olympic Channel starting with round Robin. Only four dancers from both categories will go through for the next round to battle for the World Champion title, so now it’s not the time to hold back!
The top 16 qualified b-girls are:
Ramona (Finland)
DR.C (China)
Ami (Japan)
Paulina (Poland)
Madmax (Belgium)
Fenqi (China)
Vavi (Russia)
Sunny (United States)
Ayane (Japan)
Ying Zi (China)
Logistix (United States)
Fresh Bella (Korea, Republic of (South Korea))
Jilou (Germany)
Roxy (Great Britain)
Queen Mary (Bulgaria)
Lluvia (Colombia)
The top 32 qualified b-boys are:
Astro (China)
Dr. Hill (Mexico)
Shigekix (Japan)
Marius (Romania)
HR (China)
Jamal (Russia)
Issei (Japan)
Pocket (Korea, Republic of (South Korea))
Hotan (China)
Klash (Egypt)
Lil G (Venezuela)
Lego Sam (Malaysia)
Lazy (China)
Cri6 (Morocco)
Lussy Sky (Ukraine)
Vero (Korea, Republic of (South Korea))
X-Rain (China)
Tirock (Belgium)
Bumblebee (Russia)
Luan (Brazil)
Oy (China)
Hatsolo (Finland)
Lagaet (France)
El Nino (United States)
Simy (Belgium)
Daniel (Norway)
Phil Wizard (Canada)
Xak (Spain)
Bullet From Space (Russia)
Poter (Israel)
Menno (Netherlands)
Bruce Almighty (Portugal)