(Paris) Break dancing, an additional sport at the Paris Olympic Games next year, will not appear on the program for the Los Angeles Olympics four years later, the LA2028 organizing committee announced on Monday.
The organizing committee for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games detailed in a press release the five additional sports it is proposing to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their potential inclusion in the Olympic program in five years: break dancing is not there, unlike baseball/softball, cricket, squash, flag football – or non-contact American football – and lacrosse, a team sport derived from Native American cultures.
The sports proposed by the organizers of Los Angeles-2028 must still be validated by the IOC during its next session, next week in Bombay, India.
Like karate, integrated into the Tokyo Games in 2021, but excluded for the following Games, break dancing will therefore have no Olympic visibility beyond Paris-2024 and its competitions scheduled on the site of the Place de la Concorde.
Appearing at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games in 2018, this sport dance discipline from urban culture and hip-hop is nevertheless regularly highlighted by the IOC as an example of its desire to develop urban sports, pleasant for young people and requiring little equipment, three priorities of Thomas Bach’s presidency.
The Los Angeles 2028 organizing committee has chosen other sports, particularly linked to North American culture or history.
“They are relevant, innovative and community-driven, played in backyards and schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the United States and around the world,” the president said in a statement. from LA2028, Casey Wasserman.
“They will bring new athletes to the Games, engage new spectators and expand the presence of the Games in digital spaces, further amplifying LA-2028’s mission to deliver an unprecedented experience,” he added.
The game of lacrosse, or lacrosse, for example comes from Native American cultures, which gave it a sacred dimension before it was codified and regulated into a sporting discipline where two teams attempt to score goals by sending a rubber ball to the means of a handle fitted with a net.
“It is still today one of the rare examples of an element of indigenous culture that has been accepted and adopted by Canadian society,” underlines the Canadian Lacrosse Federation on its website.
Flag football is derived from American football, but in a version where tackles are prohibited, replaced by the tearing of strips of fabric (or flag) worn by the players on their belts.
Cricket, meanwhile, is particularly popular across the Commonwealth. “We are delighted that LA28 has recommended cricket for inclusion in the Games,” commented Greg Barclay, president of the International Cricket Council, in a statement.
“Although this is not the final decision, it is a very significant step towards the return of cricket to the Games for the first time in over a century,” he said. he adds.
Cricket was an Olympic sport in 1900 in Paris.