Olympic Breaking: Scoring, History, and How to Qualify

The Olympics brings the world’s greatest athletic talents to the same stage, and this year, a new sport has officially entered the international arena: breaking. Breaking (otherwise known as breakdancing) was originally added to the Paris 2024 Games in late 2020, which means the hype has been building for several years. However, the sport’s debut on Aug. 9 didn’t exactly go as planned.

Although many of the b-boys and b-girls competed at the top of their game, coverage of breaking’s inaugural Olympics was dominated by Australia’s Raygun, who went viral for her kangaroo-inspired choreography. Considering the fact that adding breaking to the Olympics was controversial from the start, seeing all the attention turn toward Raygun while the Olympic winners and semi-finalists go largely uncelebrated is a tough pill for many breaking fans to swallow.

To give you a better sense of what Olympic breaking is, how it’s scored, and what it takes to compete, we broke down the basics. Read on for your crash course on breaking, including a brief overview of its origins, and whether or not it’ll be returning for future Olympic Games.

What Is Breaking in the Olympics?

Breaking, also known as b-boying, b-girling, or breakdancing, is an acrobatic style of street dancing developed in the 1970s. The subculture of hip-hop was originally born in New York City (specifically the Bronx) and has deep roots in musicality, characterized by speedy footwork, gravity-defying balance, extreme flexibility, and superior strength. Breaking practitioners are often known as b-boys, b-girls, or simply breakers, and many are self-taught.

When Was Breaking Added To the Olympics?

Breaking first appeared at the 2018 Youth Olympics Games in Buenos Aires, and thanks to its popularity, it earned a spot at the Paris Olympic Games. But this addition wasn’t without controversy, both from people within the breaking community and outside of it.

On the one hand, being added to the Olympics can help establish a sport, as seen with skateboarding and surfing, both of which became Olympic events in 2021. Athletes who compete on an Olympic level may also find it easier to find sponsorships or work professionally within their sport. Although no one should have to “prove” that breaking requires an impressive level of athleticism, the truth is that dance is often undervalued. Many hoped that breaking’s inclusion in the Games would help attract the attention and appreciation it deserves.

That said, some felt that the decision to make breaking an Olympic sport could affect its authenticity or dilute its art. (A similar conversation has been taking place in gymnastics, with some arguing that competitions have encouraged a focus on power vs artistry.)

Breaking Format

In case you missed the Games, breaking is broken into separate competitions for men and women, with dancers going up against each other in one-on-one solo battles. In each battle, the dancers take alternate turns to perform their routines. Each turn is called a “throw down” and lasts one minute. When the first breaker finishes their throw down, their opponent immediately responds.

At Paris 2024, the breaking competition consisted of a pre-qualifier for the b-girls (while there was already an even number of b-boys, a pre-qualifier was needed to narrow down the 17 b-girls to an even 16), a round robin, and knock outs. In the round robin, athletes are split into four groups of four, and each athlete competes in three, two-round battles within their group. (Wondering who goes first? Dancers are randomly assigned to the “red” or “blue” side; blue athletes decide if they want to go first, or they want their red opponent to go first.) The top two athletes from each round robin group progress to quarter-finals and enter the knock outs. Knock-out battles consist of three rounds, and the athlete who wins the most wins the battle. The semi-finals and medal battles are also knock-out battles.

How Are Competitors Chosen?

This question was on everyone’s mind following breaking’s Olympic debut. According to the official Olympics website, the first qualification has to do with age. In order to compete at the Paris Olympics, b-boys and b-girls had to have been born on or before Dec. 31, 2008. In terms of actual dancing, Olympic hopefuls had three opportunities to show off their skills — either at the 2023 World Championship, the Continental Championships, or the Olympic qualifier series.

According to the World Breaking Championship website, breakers are scored using “the Level A system,” which was developed for high-level competitions like the World and Continental Championships, and Olympic Qualifiers. The Level A system takes into account:

Team USA sent three b-boys and b-girls to Paris: Sunny Choi, Logan Edra, and Victor Montalvo (who ended up taking the bronze medal).

How Will Breaking Be Scored?

Now you know what it takes to qualify for Olympic breaking. As for the Olympic scoring, each battle is performed in front of a panel of nine judges who score each breaker on six criteria:

Technique, performativity, and creativity hold 60 percent of the scoring weight, with the other criteria accounting for the remaining 40 percent. Important to note: unlike gymnastics or figure skating, breakers are not aware of the music ahead of time. As a result, improvisation carries a huge weight in judging, which is one reason breaking is so exciting and impressive to watch. That said, breaking moves can be categorized into three basic elements: top rock, down rock, and freeze. For more on what those mean, check out this guide to common breaking moves.

Judges submit their votes after each round, and the breaker with the highest number of points is declared the winner. But for non-winning athletes, the number of rounds won, the number of judges’ votes collected, and pre-competition seeding all factor into how they’re ultimately ranked.

Sadly, the LA28 organizing committee decided back in 2023 that breaking would not be included in the 2028 Olympics. Local organizers are allowed to propose new sports for their Games, in addition to the core Olympic sports. For Tokyo 2020, local organizers selected baseball-softball, karate, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing; for Paris 2024, it was breaking, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing; for LA28, it will be baseball-softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash.

Time will tell whether breaking will be included as an Olympic sport again in the future. But until then, the breakers from Paris can take pride in knowing they’re a part of history.

Andi Breitowich is a Chicago-based freelance writer and graduate from Emory University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her work has appeared in PS, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, and elsewhere.

Chandler Plante is an assistant editor for PS Health & Fitness. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributed to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group. In her free time, she overshares on the internet, creating content about chronic illness, beauty, and disability.