Breaking has had a long road to the Olympics, from its origins in 1970s hip-hop culture through to the earliest competitive events in the 1990s and its successful inclusion in the 2018 Youth Olympics, which made an official Olympic debut a certainty.

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The sport got its start in New York block parties, where DJs would mix multiple records in order to achieve a longer instrumental section.

Enthusiastic dancers would use these extended breakdowns to show off increasingly technical and athletic moves, giving birth to a new style of dance and, eventually, a new sport.

The term "breakdancer" has often been used to refer to someone who had appropriated the dancing without any interest in the surrounding culture, so purists prefer the term b-boy or b-girl.

There will be 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls competing in Paris, along with a DJ and MC providing the music.

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Dancers will face-off in one-on-one competitions, progressing through toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes - essentially a progression from fancy footwork through to momentum-gaining floor-based dances like the six-step, culminating in gymnastic feats such as the windmill.

A panel of nine judges will operate a slider which is used to show a preference for the b-boy or b-girl they believe is putting in the best performance based on technique, variety, originality and musicality.

An averaging of the slider scores will decide the winner of each one-on-one, with scoring weighted towards technique and creativity.

RadioTimes.com brings you our guide to breaking at the Olympic Games in 2024.

Don’t miss a minute of the Games with our complete 16-day Olympics TV Guide download, including how to watch all the action on TV, online, on catch-up and on the radio.

Read more: Olympics TV coverage | Olympics radio coverage | Olympics presenters and commentators

When is breaking at the Olympics 2024?

Breaking at the Olympics begins on Friday 9th August and runs until Saturday 10th August.

Team GB breaking at the Olympics 2024

Although hopes were high for Britain’s b-boy Sunni and b-girl Roxy, a punishing qualifying schedule has left Team GB unrepresented in Olympic breaking.

The medal contenders are likely to be reigning world champion b-boy Victor from the US, Canada’s former world champ b-boy Phil Wizard, and Japan’s rising star b-boy Shigekix.

Japan also has a likely medal-winner in the women’s event in b-girl Ami, who will face fierce competition from Lithuania’s reigning world and European champion b-girl Nicka.

Olympics 2024 breaking on TV

You can tune in to watch every single minute of every event live on discovery+ throughout the Olympic Games 2024 in the UK.

All of this summer's Olympic action will be broadcast across the discovery+ online streaming platform, totalling around 3,800 hours over the course of the Games, while the Eurosport channels will host wall-to-wall coverage each day.

Fans will be spoiled for choice with more than 55 live feeds constantly rolling to cover every single event.

BBC will boast 250 hours of live coverage throughout the Games. Check out what they will show on their limited live feeds each day with our downloadable Olympics TV Guide or our online Olympics on Today Guide.

Olympics 2024 breaking schedule

All UK time. Subject to change.

Friday 9th August

  • 3:00pm – B-Girls Round Robin
  • 7:00pm – B-Girls Quarter-Finals
  • 7:45pm – B-Girls Semi-Finals
  • 8:15pm – B-Girls Finals

Saturday 10th August

  • 3:00pm – B-Boys Round Robin
  • 7:00pm – B-Boys Quarter-Finals
  • 7:45pm – B-Boys Semi-Finals
  • 8:15pm – B-Boys Finals
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