2024 Olympics May Boast 'More Artistic' New Sport

Break-dancing might just become an Olympic sport. Organizers of the 2024 Games in Paris have put forth their suggestions for four sports to be added to the current roster of 28, with breakdancing listed alongside surfing, climbing, and skateboarding. The latter three sports are already confirmed for Tokyo 2020, but the addition of break-dancing, or "breaking," would be a first, per the Telegraph. Head of the organizing committee, champion canoer Tony Estanguet, says the intention is to make the Games "more urban" and "more artistic," per the BBC. The International Olympic Committee will have the final say, with a decision expected by December 2020, but it seems to be on board.

"We are pleased to see that Paris 2024's proposal … is very much in line with the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020, which is striving to make the Olympic program gender-balanced, more youth-focused and more urban," the committee says in a statement, per the Telegraph. Break-dancing was included in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where competitors battled head-to-head. BBC reporter Nick Hope says he was initially "skeptical" of the sport, but then he saw it become "one of the major success stories of the Games." He expects the same in Paris. The downside: squash, karate, billiards, and chess are out. (Los Angeles will host in 2028.)