[Paris Olympics] B-Boys and B-Girls, Strong Candidates for Victory Are 'Korean'
Canadian B-boy Philip Kim, 'Unlimited Battle' with Korean representative Kim Hong-yeol Born in 1988, American B-girl Sunny Choi, unique background including former gymnast and Wharton School graduate
Korean B-boys (male athletes) and B-girls (female athletes) are considered strong candidates to win medals in the breaking event, which was first adopted as an official event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
First, in the B-boy category, there is Canadian national team member Phil Wizard who will be participating in the Olympics.
Philip Kim is a second-generation immigrant born in 1997 to Korean parents.
He is currently ranked 1st in the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) Olympic Qualification Rankings.
Philip Kim began to show off his skills by taking second place at the Red Bull BC One World Finals 2021, the world's most prestigious break battle. 토토사이트 순위
In 2022, he won the WDSF World Championships held in Seoul, establishing himself as a true world top b-boy.
Philip Kim, who took second place in the World Championships held in September last year, won a gold medal at the Pan American Games held in November and earned a direct ticket to the Olympics.
Philip Kim mixes in style moves appropriately based on his powerful power moves (highly difficult techniques).
He boasts an incredible sense of speed throughout his repertoire, including top rock and down rock.
He explodes with strong energy in every move and catches the eye with creative movements.
Although he is a little awkward, he has no problem conversing in Korean, so he is also close with Korean breakdance players.
He also garnered attention by having a one-on-one unlimited battle with B-boy 'Legend' Kim Hong-yeol (Hongten, Dobong-gu Office), who is participating in the Olympics wearing the Taegeuk mark, in October 2022.
The two fought until 'one of them collapsed from exhaustion' and continued for 17 rounds without a break, and the famous battle came to an end when Philip Kim, drenched in sweat, threw in a towel and 'surrendered'.
Grace Sun Choi (hereinafter Sunny Choi), who is aiming for a medal in the B-girl category as a representative of the United States at the Olympics, is also of Korean descent.
Born in 1988, Sunny Choi is a talented student who graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Sunny Choi, who was a gymnast in her childhood but had to quit the sport due to an injury, accidentally encountered breaking through a club in her freshman year of college and has steadily honed her skills for the past 15 years.
The many movements similar to gymnastics allowed her to wash away the frustrations of the past, and the appeal of breaking was that it allowed her to express herself in a creative and free way.
Sunny Choi, who won a silver medal at the 2022 WDSF World Championships, showed off her skills by advancing to the semifinals at the Red Bull BC One World Finals.
Sunny Choi, who was working as the head of the global creative department of Estee Lauder, a global cosmetics company, quit her job in January of last year to focus on competing in the Olympics.
Sunny Choi, who devoted herself to training, won a gold medal at the Pan American Games held in November and successfully qualified for the Olympics.
At 36, Sunny Choi will have to compete against athletes nearly 20 years younger than her at the Olympics.
In the B-girl category, there are a wide range of ages, from 17-year-old Dominika Baniewicz (Nicka, Lithuania) and China’s Liu Qingyi (671, 18 years old) to Japan’s Ayumi Fukushima, who was born in 1983 and is well into her 40s.
Sunny Choi shows off her breaking moves that seem to be one with the music, based on her experience and easy moves.
She also captures the attention of the judges and the audience by using power moves such as the two-thousand (a technique where one hand is used to hold the axis while doing a handstand, and the other hand is used to hold the wrist of the axis hand and spin around) and the head spin (a technique where one puts his head on the ground and spins around the crown of his head).
His bright and cheerful smile is also his trademark.
The breaking event at the Paris Olympics will be held on August 9-10, the last day of the competition.
B-boys and B-girls, 16 players each, are divided into 4 groups of 4 and compete in a round robin of 16.
The top 2 players from each group advance to the quarterfinals.
Since breaking is not included in the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics, there is a high possibility that the Paris Olympics will be the 'first and last' Olympic gold medalist in the breaking event.
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