Team USA earns bronze medal in men's breaking at the 2024 Olympics
Team USA breakers did not come away from the Olympic debut of breaking emptyhanded, with American b-boy Victor snagging bronze Saturday in Paris.
Canadian b-boy Phil Wizard won gold in Saturday's final, with French b-boy Danny Dann taking silver.
Dany Dann defeated Victor, whose full name is Victor Montalvo, in their semifinal matchup, while Phil Wizard bested Japanese b-boy Shigekix. Victor then went on to defeat Shigekix in the bronze medal battle.
In a June interview with CBS News, Montalvo, a 30-year-old Florida native and two-time world champion in breaking, explained that he was inspired to become a breaker by his father, and said he trains in his tiny Venice, California, garage.
"I love when it's all rugged, because that's where breaking comes from," Montalvo said at the time. "...I just want to show that it's evolved, it's a beautiful art form, it's a beautiful sport, you don't much money to get into this sport. You just need a dance floor and self-expression."
In the women's competition on Friday, Japan's b-girl Ami won gold at the Olympics' first breaking event by spinning, flipping and toprocking past a field of 16 dancers.
Over the five hours of competition, the 16 breakers started in groups of four with one-minute battles. Dancers were scored by a panel of judges on their musicality, vocabulary, originality, technique and execution. The top two from each group went on to the quarterfinals and then semifinals, and the best-of-three medal round determined who takes home the gold.
Ami, whose legal name is Ami Yuasa, won all three rounds Saturday in a battle against b-girl Nicka (Dominika Banevič) from Lithuania to clinch the gold, wrapping up a long day of flow, rhythm and skill at Place de la Concorde stadium. Banevič won the silver medal, and China's b-girl 671 (Liu Qingyi) took the bronze after battling with b-girl India (India Sardjo) from the Netherlands to "Boom!" by The Roots. Liu is a relative newcomer to the breaking scene.
The U.S. women failed to move into the medal rounds after the round-robin competition. Logistx claimed three wins but it wasn't enough to push her to one of the two top spots needed to make the quarterfinal. American Sunny Choi earned only two wins.
"I feel like I still shined and I feel like I still represented the dance and had some moments," Logistx said. "It was such a big opportunity, it's such a big platform, and I'm really happy that we're here."
Going into the Olympics, Choi had received clear instructions from her fellow New Yorkers: Bring a gold medal home, to where her sport started.
"I don't know how often people are like: 'You don't have a choice. Like, you've got to bring it home for New York,'" said the 35-year-old breaker, who was born in Tennessee but now lives in Queens.
Choi was one of four Team USA b-boys and b-girls, as competitors are known, competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At a news conference on Tuesday, all of them expressed their pride at being able to represent the roots of the sport, also known as breakdancing, in its Summer Games debut.
"[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," said Choi.
While the sport has its roots in 1960s New York, there have been international competitions since the 90s and the sport appeared in 2018 at the Youth Olympics Games. Now, in 2024, it's hitting its biggest stage so far.
"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," said Montalvo.
A DJ spun the music — breakers did not know the selections ahead of time — as the competition unfolded on the Place de la Concorde.
"It's going to feel like a party," said breaker Jeffrey Louis, "from the DJ who's providing the music, the vibe, we have the dancers, we have the crowd."
As Montalvo put it: "We already made history, so why not enjoy it?"