In Paris, breaking will be an Olympic sport for the first time in history. But what steps must a sport complete to achieve that status?
The Place de la Concorde in Paris, located at the beginning of the Champs-Élysées, will witness a historic event: the first Olympic breaking competition. On August 9th and 10th, 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls will face off in spectacular solo battles where they will use a combination of strength, technique, creativity, style, and musicality while adapting their movements and improvising to the DJ's tracks.
Breaking made its debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018. The success of that event - one of the most streamed events, attracting large audiences - motivated the inclusion of this discipline in the Olympic sports program for Paris as a new sport. In the French capital, other sports that became Olympic for the first time in the last Tokyo edition, such as surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing, will also be featured. But how does a sport become part of the Olympic program?
The path to becoming Olympic
The process for a sport to be included in the Olympic Games program is meticulous, governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the requirements are outlined in the Olympic Charter. The first step is for the candidate sport to be recognized by the IOC, which requires it to be supervised by an international federation that meets the IOC's standards in terms of governance, ethics, and transparency. This federation must demonstrate that the sport is practiced significantly and organized worldwide. In the case of breaking, for example, the World DanceSport Federation has 98 members (14 in America, 48 in Europe, 2 in Oceania, 11 in Africa, and 21 in Asia), of which 77 are recognized by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The Spanish Federation of Sports Dance has been a member of the international federation since 2006.
For a sport to be considered a candidate, it must be practiced in at least 75 countries and 4 continents for the men's category and in 40 countries and 3 continents for the women's category. Additionally, it must comply with the World Anti-Doping Code, among other requirements.
Once recognized, the sport undergoes an evaluation and review process, considering aspects such as its popularity - measured by the number of practitioners and followers globally - its history, tradition, the existence of organized international competitions, and the sport's alignment with Olympic values such as excellence, friendship, and respect.
The decision to include a new sport is made at an IOC session, where members vote on the proposal. If approved, the sport is included in the program for a future edition of the Olympic Games. On December 7, 2020, the IOC confirmed breaking as an Olympic sport for the Paris Olympic Games.
New Olympic Sports?
Breaking, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing have already achieved Olympic status. But other sports, like padel - whose popularity continues to grow exponentially but does not yet have sufficient presence on all continents - or roller hockey, also have this goal in mind.
After the Paris edition, the next Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles (USA) in 2028. At the 141st session of the International Olympic Committee, held on October 16, 2023, it was approved that five 'new' sports will be included in the Olympic program: baseball/softball, cricket, lacrosse, squash, and flag football. Many of them have already been part of the Olympic Games on some occasions (baseball and softball, in several editions; cricket, at the Paris Olympics in 1900; and lacrosse in St. Louis 1904 and London 1908). The sports making their Olympic debut for the first time will be squash and flag football.
The fact that a sport becomes Olympic at one edition of the Games does not mean it will be permanently included in future editions, as they can be added or removed from the competition program based on IOC decisions. On the Olympics website, you can check which sports were, are, and will be Olympic in each edition held since Athens 1896.