Breaking races against time in preparation for the Paris Olympics

Two and a half years before the Paris-2024 Olympics, the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee) and the CNDD (National Council for Sports Dance) are still at the beginning of a race against time to organize the practice of breaking in the country of dot. from a sporting point of view.

One of the elements of hip-hop culture, born in New York in the 1970s, dance saw itself for the first time in history inserted in the framework of traditional sport. As a result, it began to follow regulations from the IOC (International Olympic Committee), from the international federation recognized by the committee, the WDSF (World DanceSport Federation), and from a series of national entities created in countries that wish to have representatives in 2024.

In 2019, the organization of the Paris Games proposed breaking breaking into its Olympic program, as a form of sports dance — there are several others in the WDSF umbrella, for example salsa and acrobatic rock’n roll.

The IOC, which had already taken a highly rated breaking test at the 2018 Youth Games, officially approved the idea in December last year, understanding that it will help rejuvenate the mega-event audience. Despite this, there is no guarantee that it will remain for future editions.

“Nobody had done breaking as a sport dance before that. There was no national or international standardization, federations, confederations, circuit, ranking system, nothing like that. Only from 2021 did breaking come into being as a sport. Everything that happened until then. it was the cultural scene,” says José Bispo de Assis, CNDD’s technical breaking director.

Created in 2013, the entity was recognized by the WDSF the following year as a representative of sports dance in Brazil. That’s what enabled her to be treated by the COB as responsible for managing breaking in the country at the Olympic level, even without having organized any specific event of the modality.

The breaking department was created by CNDD in January 2021, with people who were historically linked to the practice. He has the obligation, for example, to create a calendar of competitions, a ranking and form the Brazilian team.

Other relevant names in the scene, however, dispute the board headed by Bispo. One of them is Rooneyoyo, president of the Brazilian Breaking Confederation (CBRB) and member of the São Paulo Breaking Federation — the largest in the country.

“We already have a plan until 2032”, he says, who sees the creation of a new calendar as a waste of money, since the CBRB and the federation already organize championships.

According to Rooneyoyo, he sought out the CNDD and even proposed names to compose a possible board, but his entity was excluded from the dialogue. “We tried to pair up. I don’t think it’s fair for the confederation to take over the whole thing. I’m willing, if anyone calls me now, we’ll close the deal. I’m not angry, but they’re doing something wrong,” he says.

For Bispo, the process of formation of the board was democratic and the contestations are due to interests for positions and power. The entity will receive a transfer of approximately R$ 2 million of the COB in 2022, as distribution of resources of the federal lotteries.

“The CNDD will only work on sport. The entire cultural and social side, which will indirectly benefit [das Olimpíadas], will continue to happen without any interference”, he declares.

Amidst the internal conflicts on the scene, the first face-to-face meeting between the COB and the CNDD took place in November this year, after the Tokyo Olympics.

Lucimar Cardoso, deputy technical director of breaking, reports that she has been counting on the help of the COB Athletes Commission, especially from former taekwondo fighter Diogo Silva, to define the mechanisms for the participation of dancers, now athletes, in the events.

But doubts are not exclusive to Brazilians. The first World Championship with an Olympic seal was held by the WDSF earlier this month in Paris. There were 108 b-boys and 90 b-girls from 60 countries, who competed in individual battles. There was a group stage before the knockouts, which started in the round of 16 and went on to the title decision.

The international arbitration regulation that will be adopted in preparation for Paris and the Olympics, called Trivium, has yet to be officially launched. At the World Cup, the same system as the Youth Games was used, with minor adaptations.

Generally speaking, the athletes are evaluated by a panel of judges, who decide the best dancer in the battle based on criteria such as technique, performance and creativity.

At the time the representatives were nominated for the World Cup, Brazil had only seven members of the CNDD, and the WDSF stipulated membership of the national entity as a rule for participation. COB also sent a representative to accompany the event.

Unable to organize a qualifying tournament, the council selected b-boys Luan San and Rato and b-girls It’sa and Nathana. Luan San was the main highlight, in fourth position. It’sa, who defines himself as a non-binary person and competes in the female category, and Rato were among the 32 best placed.

The CNDD hopes to soon release its planning for 2022, with a schedule of events and an indication of how the ranking system and access to Olympic places will work, in addition to the criteria for the formation of a Brazilian team. There is also no definition of an international calendar, but it is already known that 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls will be present in Paris-2024.

“We established a project, submitted it to the COB and we are awaiting approval. I can say that we intend to make a Brazilian that will be the big ranking event in the second half of the year. We will also have access to COB spaces, such as training centers and the laboratory Olympic,” says Bispo.

​Rooneyoyo understands that the committee makes a mistake when dialoguing with the CNDD, not the CBRB, as responsible for breaking in Brazil. Even without the seal, he says that he intends to try to raise public resources for the modality and that his confederation will follow its own calendar.

“Now, we are in the middle of the 2021 competitions, which we decided to do semi-attendance. We are in the middle of regional editions, in all five regions of Brazil, and then there will be the final, which at first will be virtual, but can be in person if let’s get a sponsor for the event,” he said.