The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board added “Breaking” – a competitive form of breakdancing & 3 other sports – Skateboarding, Sport Climbing, and Surfing to Medal Events Program in Olympic Games. Breaking will make its Olympic debut at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, while 3 other sports will make their olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics to be held in July, 2021 (delayed due to COVID-19). The additional sports were proposed by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.
The sports have been included by IOC to set a new standard for inclusive, gender-balanced and youth-centred games.
Key Points:
i.The IOC has approved the reduction of certain medal events in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Paris will have 329 medal events, 10 events less than the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (to be held in 2021). Four Medal Events from Weightlifting were cancelled.
ii.The IOC Executive Board has reduced the Athlete quote for the 2024 Paris Olympics to 10, 500 which is 600 less than Tokyo Games to be held in 2021.
iii.IOC has emphasized achieving a long-term target of equal participation by men and women athletes and more urbanized events as its future objectives.
Event Locations:
i.Breaking, Joining Sport Climbing and 3-on-3 Basketball will be held at Place de la Concorde, Paris.
ii.Surfing will be held in the beach of Tahiti, Florida, United States which is more than 15, 000 Kilometers away from France.
Break Dancing:
i.Break Dancing is an athletic style of Street dance which originated from the United States. It belongs to the genre of Hip-Hop Dance.
ii.It was created by the African-American and Puerto Rican Youth in the early 1970s.
iii.“Breaking” was successfully trailed at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires before being proposed by 2024 Paris Organising Committee.
Recent Related News:
i.May 25, 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have teamed up to fight the battle against Covid-19 and have signed an agreement to work together to promote health through sport and physical activity.
About International Olympic Committee (IOC):
President – Thomas Bach
Headquarters – Lausanne, Switzerland
