Breaking Good: Local coach excited about debut of new event at Paris Olympics

The Paris Olympics, which begin Friday, will mark the debut of breaking — previously known as breakdance — as an official event. The competition will take place on August 9 and 10 at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Montgomery County isn’t exactly known as a stronghold of breaking, but MCM visited the All 10 Breaking studios in Takoma Park, where coach and founder Antonio Castillo is preparing to join the contestants.

The breaking competition will consist of two gender-based medal events, one for men and one for women, called B-boys and B-girls, where sixteen will compete in solo battles. Each B-boy/B-girl will incorporate and adapt a wide variety of dance moves, including power moves like windmills, footwork like the six-step and freezes, improvising to the beat of DJ tracks to achieve the highest score. According to Olympic organizers, the breaker with the highest number of points and rounds scored by the judges over his or her opponent in a solo battle will advance to the next round.

Team USA

American star Victor Montalvo became the first American athlete to ever qualify for the Olympics in breaking when he won the 2023 WDSF Breaking World Championship. Fellow American Jeffrey Louis (B-Boy Jeffro) qualified for the Games in June and is also seen as a possible gold medal winner.

American Sunny Choi (B-Girl Sunny) became the first American woman to qualify for the Olympic Games in the women’s competition last year. Logan Edra (B-Girl Logistx) has booked her spot at the Olympic qualifiers this spring and will perform in Paris alongside Choi, Louis and Montalvo.

For more information about ‘Breaking’ in the Olympics, visit the official webpage here.

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