Olympics: Stakeholders seek to open new doors

A Dancer does the breakdance moves at an event [courtesy]

Gone are the old times when we used to watch the same sporting events every time the Olympic games took over our TV screens.

Thanks to the evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20^th and 21^st centuries, there have been several changes to the competition.

These include the introduction of the Winter Olympic Games for snow and ice sports, Paralympic Games for athletes with a disabilities, Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged between 14 to 18, five continental games (Pan American, African, Asian, European, and Pacific), and the World Games for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games.

The International Olympics Committee has also endorsed the Deaflympics and Special Olympics.

In recent times, the committee endorsed three new sports that are set to debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. They include skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing.

Now, the IOC is looking to add a new sport to the ever-growing list of Olympic sporting events. The Olympic governing body has proposed breakdancing for the 2024 Olympic Games set to be held in Paris-France.

The body’s management faces the task of deliberating on the sport and reaching an agreement by December 2020.

The breakdancing event was first included in the 2018 youth Olympics that were held in Buenos Aires Argentina.

The world DanceSport president Shawn Tay praised the decision by the IOC terming it as ‘a chance to prove the value of dancesport community.

The world DanceSport president Shawn Tay (Right) and his wife. The pair run a dance club together [Courtesy]

He said:  "Should breaking eventually be included on the Paris 2024 Olympic programme, it would be a fantastic achievement. New doors would open, visibility of all of our activities would increase significantly, and we could prove the value of our DanceSport community in its entirety as well as further build valuable relationships with NOCs and national governments for the good of our beautiful sport. We have the vision that it will also be possible for other disciplines to be included on the Olympic programme at a later stage."