Sunny Choi’s fellow New Yorkers have given her very clear instructions: return a gold medal to the place where her sport originated.
You don’t have a choice, I don’t know how frequently people say that. Like, you have to bring it home for New York,” the 35-year-old Tennessee-born breaker, who now resides in Queens, said.
Choi is one of four Team USA athletes that will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. They were all proud to be able to represent the origins of the sport, also known as breakdancing, during its Summer Games debut, at a press conference on Tuesday.
“[We] try and pay respect to where we’re coming from, where this dance comes from, and want to put some of that shine back onto the community as we go onto this on the big stage,” Choi said.
Although the sport originated in New York in the 1960s, it has been competitive internationally since the 1990s, and it made its debut at the Youth Olympics Games in 2018. It’s reaching its greatest level ever in 2024.
“We’re going to have all eyes on us, so I just want to make sure that everyone understands what this dance is about and what hip hop is about, because it’s all about peace, unity and having fun,” Viktor Montalvo, a member of Team USA, said.
As the tournament takes place on the Place de la Concorde, a DJ will play the music; breakers won’t be aware of the choices in beforehand.
“It’s going to feel like a party,” said Jeffrey Louis, the breaker, “from the DJ who’s providing the music, the vibe, we have the dancers, we have the crowd.”
“We already made history, so why not enjoy it?” is how Montalvo phrases it.
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When does the break begin and what is the schedule?
On Friday, the women’s competition gets underway at 10 a.m. ET, and the championship match is scheduled for 3:23 p.m. ET. On Saturday, the men’s competitions happen at the same timings.
The 16 breakers will compete over five hours, beginning with one-minute fights in groups of four. A group of judges rates the dancers according to their execution, musicality, vocabulary, originality, and technique. The top two finishers from each group advance to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final round where the winner is decided by a best-of-three medal round.
