Asia
20 breakers secure tickets to Paris 2024 Olympics
"There were tears of joy, and there were also tears of sadness."
The Olympic Qualifying Series is a grueling competition that takes the best athletes in Breaking, Skating, BMX, and Climbing. The event pits them against each other so that whoever wins goes to the Paris 2024 Olympics. It’s not easy, but that’s part of the point of being an Olympic athlete.
Over the weekend, the final of two events for the Olympic Qualifying Series was held in Budapest. A month ago, three Japanese B-girls who are great friends took the top three slots: Ayumi, Ami, and Riko. Yesterday, the top two switched places and Ami came in first and Ayumi came in second. They will both go to the Paris 2024 Olympics because only two people from each country can go. Ami said of the victory, “Usually, if I get to the final, I just enjoy the final. But today, my motivation was to win. I just tried to push myself. At Shanghai, I wanted to be top four, and then maybe I have good motivation for Budapest. But this time, I was like, 'OK, this is the last qualification, so I just want to win.' That was the difference.”
The rest of the B-girls who qualified to be in the Paris 2024 Olympics are Syssy, Logistx, Ying Zi, Kate, Anti, Vanessa, Stefani, and Senorita Carlota.
On the men’s side, Dutch B-boy Lee dominated again, like he did in Shanghai a month ago, and won. He will be joined by Hongten, Hiro10, Lithe-Ing, Jeffro, Amir, Menno, Quake, Kuzya, and Lagaet.
B-boy Quake from Taiwan was especially emotional on his social media today, “Today’s venue is filled with countless tears. There were tears of joy, and there were also tears of sadness. Perhaps it is because of such victory and defeat that breaking is so charming. That’s why everyone can enjoy it and persist until now! It’s ridiculous to see Breaking being an event of this level. This art is so beautiful, interesting, and profound!”
Check out the Olympic Qualifying Series finals for Breaking below.