Paris 2024: Olympics new sports and events for Summer Games as breaking makes its debut | Olympics News

Paris 2024 will see the debut of breaking, with new disciplines introduced in other sports; Olympics is back in Europe for the first time since London 2012; baseball/softball and karate have been dropped for this year’s Summer Games

New sports have been introduced at recent Summer Olympics and Paris 2024 is no different as breaking makes its debut.

Skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing return from Tokyo 2020, while there are also events changes to some of the Olympics’ more traditional sports.

Paris 2024 is not far away with the Opening Ceremony on Friday July 26, with football and rugby sevens action starting the Games on Wednesday July 24.

What is breaking at the Olympics?

Breaking has nothing to do with damaging something. It’s similar to break dancing.

It made its debut at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina and was hailed as a great success.

Paris wanted to incorporate it into the 2024 Games to reach a younger audience, which is active on social media. The International Olympic Committee hope to inspire millions of children to start breaking.

Breaking format at the Olympics

There is a women’s breaking competition on Friday, August 9 and a men’s breaking competition on Saturday, August 10.

Sixteen athletes will be in each event, where they will go head-to-head on solo battles. Competitors will have to keep up with the beat of the DJ’s track, improvising against their opponent and using a combination of power moves including windmills, the 6-step and freezes.

The judges will score the moves and whoever has the highest score will progress to the next round and the final will decide who wins gold and becomes the first breaking Olympic champion.

Where is breaking being held in Paris?

The two days of breaking will take place at the iconic Place de la Concorde, a public square in Paris that is being transformed into an open-air stadium for the Olympics.

The outdoor venue is meant to be a nod to the culture of street battles in breaking.

Kayak cross makes Olympic debut

As part of the canoe slalom programme, kayak cross will also make its Olympic debut in Paris.

Rather than racing against the clock, four athletes will race each other in heats, with the best athletes reaching the final. This event replaces the men’s and women’s K-1 200-metre sprint races.

What else is new at Paris 2024?

Sport climbing will see more medals on offer, with a combined medal for lead and bouldering, but a separate medal for speed climbing. This means there are four golds up for grabs, rather than just the one each for men and women in Tokyo.

In sailing, two kite events have been added – iQFoil and kiteboarding. Keeping on the water theme, men will be included in artistic swimming for the first time and there will be a team acrobatic routine round too.

Four events have been dropped from weightlifting, while baseball/softball and karate are not part of the Paris 2024 programme.