Breakdance between four sports proposed for the inclusion of the Olympic Games from 2024 to Paris

The four sports should all appear at the Games in the French capital pending the final approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The breakdance is expected to debut at the summer Olympics, while sports climbing, skateboarding and surfing have all been added to the Tokyo 2020 extra sports.

The IOC Program Commission will review the proposal before submitting it to the Executive Board at its next meeting from 26 to 28 March.

The June IOC session will then propose interim approval before new additions are formally confirmed by the Executive Board in December 2020, four months after the conclusion of Tokyo 2020.

The announcement made today by Paris 2024 is a blow to sports such as softball and karate baseball – the other two additional sports of the Tokyo 2020 program – and squash, snooker and chess. who have all launched public campaigns in order to make a place for themselves Games.

The organizers confirmed that 19 International Federations (IFs) recognized by the IOC had submitted their applications.

Paris 2024 officials said that a total of 248 athletes competed in the four sports offered by the organizers.

This number should be below the IOC limit of 10,500.

This marks a change from Tokyo, where the 474 new athletes from the five new sports were incorporated separately, out of a total of 10,616 for the 28 major sports already improved.

Paris 2024 proposed a men's and women's breakdance event at the Games, with 16 competitors each.

The skateboard has four events and a total of 96 athletes.

The same number of events were proposed for sports climbing, which would include 36 women and 36 men.

A men's and women's surf competition has been proposed. Twenty-four athletes will be competing in each event.

The breakdance competitions in Paris 2024 would involve face-to-face "battles" in a format similar to that used at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games last year.

His success in Buenos Aires in 2018 is believed to be one of the main reasons for his inclusion in Paris 2024.

Paris 2024 said that breakdance was an "obvious choice" for inclusion, with France ranking second among participants in the discipline behind the United States.

This happens despite a quarrel over the owner of the sport that has appeared since breakdance as a serious candidate for a place in Paris 2024.

The World Dance Sports Federation (WDSF) was responsible for overseeing the inclusion of the sport in Buenos Aires in 2018 and was also behind the campaign for a place in the Paris 2024 program.

Erwin Mahroug, president of the breakdance media company bboyworld, claimed that the community had not participated in any attempt to include it in Paris 2024.

The company, which claims to have more than five million subscribers, participated in the selection of breakdancers dancers in Buenos Aires in 2018.

This line is similar to the long quarrel that prevailed before skateboarding before its inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 program.

"It is an incredible honor and privilege that, for the first time, a dance discipline be considered for inclusion in the Olympic Games," said WDSF President Shawn Tay.

"It's a humbling experience for all members and supporters of the sport of dance."

International Surf Association President Fernando Aguerre said today's announcement was "another important milestone in the Olympic wave of surfing".

"We are delighted and honored that Paris 2024 has included surfing in its proposed list of sports for the 2024 Olympics," he added.

"This announcement brings us closer to our goal of long-term Olympic inclusion."

World Skate President Sabatino Aracu said that his organization hoped that skateboarding would be proposed, but stressed that the final decision was the IOC's responsibility.

"Needless to say, we were really hoping to celebrate this first achievement on the road to Paris, as we are working hard to ensure the success of skateboarding at the Olympics since its Tokyo debut in 2020," he said. declared.

The IFs that represented sports supposed to be included by Paris 2024 unsurprisingly reacted disappointed after being confirmed, they will not be part of the Games in the French capital.

In a joint statement, the World Squash Federation and the Professional Squash Association claimed that the proposed list of four sports "suggests that Paris 2024 and the IOC have promoted the sports already on the Olympic program, leaving virtually no chance for other sports ".

Both bodies added that they were "greatly disappointed" by the decision, but insisted that the sport could "seamlessly integrate into the Olympic program with minimal costs and an optimized pool of participants ".