Paris 2024: Hong Kong breakdancers set out Olympic qualifying blueprint after World Championships outing
- Four of the city’s highest-ranked Bboys and Bgirls return from Paris World Breaking Championships with new-found motivation
- ‘This is just the start,’ declares local star Chan Ka-yi as team look to improve Asian standing and learn more about judging criteria on road to Olympic debut
Hong Kong’s representative breakdancers returned from this month’s world breaking championships with hope in their eyes as they opened their campaign for Paris 2024 Olympics qualification.
Breaking, as the International Olympic Committee calls it, featured as a main sport at the 2018 Youth Olympics alongside skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. It gained full Olympic approval and membership in 2019, and had its monumental place confirmed for the Paris Games last year. It will also debut at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in September after a successful demonstration at Jakarta 2018.
Though team Hong Kong failed to break into the round of 32 at worlds, they return home encouraged by the narrowing gap between themselves and Asia’s best, equipped with a clear set of blueprints for three years’ time.
“From what I saw, I believe our Bboys and Bgirls are not that far off,” said number one-ranked local breaker Chan Ka-yi, also known as Bgirl Lady Little.