The worldwide DanceSport community’s dream of providing some of its young top athletes with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is about to turn reality. In its meeting of 6 December 2016, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to add the DanceSport discipline Breakdance to the programme of the Buenos Aires 2018 YOG.
Nearly two decades after it was recognised by the 106th IOC Session that was held in Lausanne, SUI, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) received the news of one of its disciplines making it to the programme of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games (BAYOG) in the same city. Having gone full circle with its ambition to see dancers compete alongside the other athletes for the most coveted medals in sports, WDSF reaches this milestone with the satisfaction of a job well done by those who campaigned over many years. And it does so with the conviction that its small contingent of athletes and officials will deliver on what is pledged by putting on great competitions at the Urban Park venue in early October 2018.
When DanceSport’s governing body last applied for a berth on the Olympic Sports Programme – in June 2015, as one of 26 IOC Recognised International Federations – it did so with the disciplines Latin and Standard, and for the Tokyo 2020 Games. It may have been on the merits of this ultimately unsuccessful application that WDSF was given another opportunity to submit one for participation in the Youth Olympic Games 2018. A comprehensive proposal to have DanceSport feature in the context of the multi-sport games with the different “DNA” was presented to the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (BAYOGOC) in September 2016. Several disciplines were proposed to be featured in up to nine different scenarios ranging from the Ceremonies to Medal Competitions and just about everything in between.
The members of BAYOGOC and, later on, the Coordination Commission for the games found Breakdance to fit their vision and to match the particular YOG DNA best. An assessment that has now been confirmed by the IOC Executive Board’s decision to approve the quota of 24 athletes competing in three events (Men, Women, Mixed Team) in Buenos Aires 2018.
“Millions of dancers around the world will be delighted over this Olympic embrace,” WDSF President Lukas Hinder said upon learning of the decision. “It certainly is the fulfilment of a long-held dream and it will allow us to showcase the full breadth of DanceSport to the world at large.”
Over the years, DanceSport developed into an all-encompassing brand made up of very different styles and forms of moving to music. Right after it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007, WDSF embarked on successive restructuring and development programmes that aimed, and continue to aim, to broaden the scope of the sport further, making it more accessible, more ageless, more global and more relevant.
A milestone in this quest was reached when WDSF organised the first edition of its proprietary World DanceSport Games in Kaohsiung, TPE, back in 2013. Medals in over a dozen different disciplines were contested by nearly 800 athletes representing 48 nations. Four contrasting DanceSport disciplines will be on the programme of The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, POL: Latin, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Salsa and Standard.
Now Breakdance is about to make its première in the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games. DanceSport does fit everywhere. After all, it is performed to THE RHYTHM OF TIME!
Find out more about the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games!
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