PARIS, France — Editor's note: The video published above is a WFAA report of Dallas b-Boys reacting to the debut of breaking in the Olympics.
Breakdancing, or "breaking," made its Olympic debut in Paris.
Thirty-three breakers representing 15 countries and the Refugee Olympic Team took to the dance floor on Friday, starting a two-day competition to vie for the event's first Olympic medal.
B-girl India from the Netherlands beat refugee team member b-girl Talash in the first ever breaking battle at the Olympics, kicking off the women's competition in a one-off pre-qualifier was added in May, when Talash was added to the Olympic roster after the b-girl from Afghanistan missed registration for qualifying events.
"#BreakingForGold" and "#breakdancing" quickly became a top trend on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as the top Google search trend in the United States. The social media reaction to the newest Olympic competition was mixed, with supporters highlighting smooth moves, but many calling the low-lights cringeworthy.
Here is a round up of the social media posts:
The Olympic competition moved into in a round-robin phase, when groups of four breakers faced off against each other one by one. Only two will emerge from each round-robin group before the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final matchup to determine the champion.
Before the battles began, American rapper Snoop Dogg made a grand entrance into the stadium to the soundtrack of “Drop it Like it’s Hot," prompting cheers and dancing in the stands. The emcees introduced the 17 b-girls competing on Friday, with the b-girls from France and the U.S. receiving the loudest applause from the crowd.
The judges are all b-boys and b-girls in their own right from around the world. They sat between the circular floor, modeled after a record, and a massive replica of a boombox, in a nod to the musical root of breaking — the breakbeat itself — which is the moment when a song’s vocals drop and the DJ loops the beat over and over, to allow b-boys and b-girls to make their mark on the dance floor.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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