Jim McMahon

You just might see a new kind of Olympian at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Eager to engage younger fans and those in urban areas, the organizing committee is recommending that break dancing be included in the competition. Breaking—as it would be called in the Olympics—is popular all over the world and generated excitement last fall when it debuted at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The dance style is particularly relevant in France, officials say, as the country has more than 1 million break-dancers (only the U.S. has more). These photos show three of the athletes (called B-boys and B-girls) who competed at the youth games; 18-year-old Russian B-boy Bumblebee (above left) took home a gold medal. But it’s about more than awards, break-dancers say. “Breaking has two elements,” B-boy Shigekix of Japan (above, bottom right), a bronze medal winner, told Olympic.org. “One is sports, and one is arts. We need the stamina of athletes, but we also need to be artists and express our feelings.”