THE journey of Olympic breaking was a long one that began with a vision — one that early pioneers of the art form in the 1970s in the Bronx had hardly dreamed of.

The 33 breakers representing 15 countries and the Refugee Olympic Team will make their debuts, vying for gold for the first time in Olympic history.

The b-girls were the first to battle each other today, one by one, first through a round-robin phase. They follow rules based on the Trivium judging system, which asks judges to evaluate breakers on their technique, vocabulary or variety, execution, musicality and originality.

Like gymnastics, breakers have certain moves and tricks they work to land with precision and focus, but they’ll also need to emphasise their style, personality and individuality as they sync to the beat of the DJ’s soundtrack.

The elements of style and individuality play out from what the dancers wear, to their “signature moves,” to their b-boy or b-girl names themselves. No other Olympic sport has the structure of identifying the competitors this way, but it’s a part of preserving the culture and essence of hip-hop in the art form, said Zack Slusser, vice-president of Breaking for Gold USA and USA Dance.

“People coming into breaking need to understand that there’s a history here of expression, especially from where it comes from,” said Slusser. Hip-hop was born as a youth culture within black and brown communities in the Bronx as a way to escape strife and socio-economic struggles and make a statement of empowerment at a time when they were labelled as lost, lawless kids by New York politicians.

A statement of individuality

“Hip-hop is about building that individuality and that style, that character. You just want to make sure your presence is known,” said American Jeffrey Louis, or “b-boy Jeffro,” who compared b-boy style to a signature on a document.

“Your signature is your stamp of approval … your presence is known. And if you look good and you feel good, of course, you’re probably going to perform well, so it all ties into that performance.”

Beyond the athletics, it’s about identity, self-expression, personality and charisma, and the breakers will be bearing it all on stage for the judges to evaluate and the audience to receive.

“I feel like I’ve been able to tap into different eras,” said Logan Edra, or “b-girl Logistx,” from Team USA. “My style is infinite. I tap into different styles and I have different portals that I’m able to channel through for my style and for my breaking.”

For Dominika Banevic, or “b-girl Nicka,” from Lithuania, it was important to familiarise herself with the origins of the dance and the moves the original breakers from the 1970s were hitting. The 17-year-old is one of the youngest breakers on the roster, but she values tradition above all.

“The beauty of breaking is to develop your own style … but you have to learn the foundation really well. Learn the basics first, then you can come up with your own style,” she said.

Breaking competition begins

The b-girls began today with a pre-qualifier between India Sardjoe of the Netherlands, or “b-girl India,” against the refugee team’s Manizha Talash, or “b-girl Talash,” who is originally from Afghanistan and sought asylum in Spain. Talash was a late addition to the Olympic roster — she missed registration for any qualifying breaking events, but her story of breaking and defying the strict rule of the Taliban in her home country captured the attention of the International Olympic Committee executive board, and she was invited to participate.

The b-boys take to the stage tomorrow.

Breaking’s Olympic future is murky

Breaking is not in the line-up of sports for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, and Slusser said he’s sceptical it’ll make it into the events for Brisbane in 2032. It all comes down to funding.

“It was a miracle that we were even in Paris to begin with,” he said. But for the breaking community, it’s an achievement worth celebrating, even if it doesn’t return to the Olympic stage.

In the end, breakers from the US and around the world are hoping their debut at the Olympics leads to visibility and more resources for the breaking community through stakeholders and financial gains.

“The amount of exposure to the right people that can bring real change to our community, to our platform to help it grow — it’ll be significant to us. It’ll allow us, for the first time, to find sustainability and help us elevate our platform,” Slusser said.

“It would be great to see breaking make it back to the Olympic Games again. But at the same time, it’s really going to go back to community work and leveraging this opportunity internally.”