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Breakdancing to debut at 2024 Olympics?

February 21, 2019

Breakdancers could be competing for the first time at the Olympics if organizers of the 2024 Paris Games get their way. They say adding new sports to the lineup will make the global event "more urban."

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A breakdancer in Paris
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection/Magnolia Pictures

The Paris 2024 organizing committee on Thursday proposed including breakdancing for the first time in its Olympic program.

In a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the French hosts said they would also welcome skateboarding, climbing and surfing — sports that will make their debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Head of the Paris committee Tony Estanguet said the inclusion of the four non-traditional sports would help to make the Olympics "more urban" and "more artistic."

Read moreBreakdance as a symbol of freedom

There are currently 28 sports on the Olympic program, and any new additions must first be approved by the IOC. It is expected to make a decision in December 2020.

The body has already announced that the number of competitors in 2024 will be capped at 10,500, limiting the chances of new sports making the cut.

Breakdancing, an acrobatic style of street dance, appeared at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

nm/rt (AFP, EFE, AP)

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