Is breakdancing an Olympic sport? Yes it is. | What to know about the sport

Breaking is the first dance sport ever to compete on the Olympic stage.

Meet 20-year-old Logan Edra, better known as b-girl, ‘Logistx’, once an Olympic hopeful, now just days away from her world debut. 

She is one of four athletes representing Team USA on the world stage during the breaking competitions.

Breaking starts this weekend in Paris, with B-Girls on Friday and B-Boys set to compete on Saturday.

FOX 5 spoke to Edra in April before she qualified for the Games, and she explained how honored she felt to be competing. 

“I get emotional thinking about going to the Paris Olympics to represent breaking—to represent myself and represent Hip Hop—because it’s such a big platform,” the 2021 BC One World Champion said. 

Her current rank is No. 3 among the Breaking B-girls, and 7th in Breaking 1 vs. 1 B-girls. 

“It’s like an all-encompassing dance form. It’s athletic, but it’s also artistic and it’s musical. It’s not gymnastics, but it’s kind of like if gymnastics was a dance and had a hip-hop vibe and energy to it,” Edra said. 

Logan Edra (L) of US, also known as B-Girl Logistx competes in the women’s Breaking B-Girls semi-final during the Olympic Qualifier Series for breaking, BMX freestyle, skateboarding, and sport climbing events ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paral

What is breakdancing?

According to the World DanceSport Federation, breakdancing or “breaking” is “an urban dance style.”

Merriam-Webster defines it as a “dance in a hip-hop style by performing a series of acrobatic moves that often involve touching various parts of the body (such as the back or head) to the ground.”

FOX 5’s Lisa Evers was one of the first news reporters to explore the phenomenon, saying dance moves were performed outdoors on the sidewalks, parking lots, or empty spaces on the streets. 

Is breakdancing an Olympic sport?

Breakdancing can trace its roots to African-American and Latino youths in the Bronx borough of New York City during the 1970s at the same time that hip-hop culture started to emerge. 

Canada’s Philip Kim, known as b-boy Phil Wizard, practices during a breaking training session for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Pablo Neruda sport centre in Saint-Ouen on August 6, 2024. (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD / AFP) (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD/AFP

Lisa Evers with FOX 5 New York was one of the first news reporters to explore the phenomenon, saying dance moves were performed outdoors on the sidewalks, parking lots, or empty spaces on the streets. 

“Every time a little girl comes up to me and is like, ‘you inspire me or like I’m your biggest fan’ or something like that—it’s crazy because I still feel like I am still in touch with that little girl within my younger self,” Edra said. 

How did breaking become an Olympic sport?

LEUVEN, BELGIUM – SEPTEMBER 24: (L-R) Logan Edra called Logistx of United States against Dominika Banevic, called Nicka from Lithuania performs on stage on the B-girls Top 4 during the WDSF World Breaking Championship 2023 on September 24, 2023 in Le

The International Olympic Committee announced three years ago that breaking would become an official Olympic sport.

Breakdancing is called “breaking” at the Olympics, as it was in the 1970s by hip-hop pioneers in the United States. It was proposed by Paris organizers almost two years ago after positive trials at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. 

Surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing were also added to this year’s Games.

The breaking events will take place on Aug. 9 and 10. at La Concorde Urban Park.

FOX Digital contributed to this report.