Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
World's best breakers take to Olympic stage
Japan's Ami Yuasa, known as B-Girl Ami, competes during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics, August 9, 2024, in Paris, France

THE journey of Olympic breaking was a long one that began with a vision — one that early pioneers of the art form in the 1970s in the Bronx had hardly dreamed of.

The 33 breakers representing 15 countries and the Refugee Olympic Team will make their debuts, vying for gold for the first time in Olympic history.

The b-girls were the first to battle each other today, one by one, first through a round-robin phase. They follow rules based on the Trivium judging system, which asks judges to evaluate breakers on their technique, vocabulary or variety, execution, musicality and originality.

A statement of individuality

Breaking competition begins

Breaking’s Olympic future is murky

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
New Zealand's Damian McKenzie is tackled during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday July 11
Men’s Rugby Union / 17 July 2026
17 July 2026
cosmos 2
Men's Football / 3 July 2026
3 July 2026

In the second part of LAYTH YOUSIF’S history of the New York Cosmos, he reflects on their stunning reboot

cosmos
Men's Football / 1 July 2026
1 July 2026

In the first of a three-part series, LAYTH YOUSIF visits a community-driven club in blue-collar Paterson, New Jersey, with a rich heritage that is rising once again 

PARADISIC: End of the Road festival 2025 ' Pic: Stewart Lee
Culture / 3 September 2025
3 September 2025

TOM STONE sings the praises of one of the oldest open-air festivals in Britain