Breaking to make Pan Am Games debut at Santiago 2023 09/07/2022

Breakers in the Americas have just been given a fantastic new opportunity to showcase their talents on the continental stage a year out from the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Last week, Breaking was officially included on the sports programme for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, which are set to take place from 20 October to 5 November in the Chilean capital.

The Breaking competition at Santiago 2023 will feature 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls in 1vs1 battles, with the winners in each category qualifying directly for the following year’s Olympic Games in Paris, where Breaking will be making its much-anticipated Olympic debut.

The qualifying process for Santiago 2023 is open to all Breakers in countries in North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Interested b-boys and b-girls should contact their local WDSF National Member Bodies (NMBs) to register. Athletes from countries without a WDSF-recognized NMB should contact the WDSF directly at [email protected].

“The WDSF Managing Committee once again succeeded in opening an important door for all athletes in Americas, as we strongly believe that Breaking’s inclusion at the Pan Am Games will give an ‘Olympic push’ to the athletes in the region. Many of them will receive support from their National Olympic Committees and will be eligible for education and training support, which is a terrific opportunity only a year out from the Olympic Games,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay.

Executive Director of Santiago 2023 Gianna Cunazza said: “For us as the Organizing Committee it is a great joy to announce that Breaking will be part of these Games. We are proud to have a sport that will be part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

The Pan American Games are a multi-sport competition held every four years in the year prior to the Olympic Summer Games. They are the world’s third-largest multi-sport Games, surpassed in size only by the Olympic Summer Games and the Asian Games. More than 6,000 athletes from 41 countries currently compete at the Games.

Breaking’s inclusion at the Pan Am Games was aided by the success of the discipline’s first appearance at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, which was successfully delivered by the WDSF, and subsequent inclusion on the sports programme for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

It was also the result of many hours of hard work and collaboration between a number of Olympic Movement stakeholders, including WDSF General Secretary Sergey Nifontov and WDSF Vice President for Sports Nenad Jeftic, who were expertly supported in their efforts by Olympic Solidarity and, in particular, our NMB in Chile (Federación Deportiva Nacional de Baile Deportivo).

The WDSF would like to thank the Pan American Games leadership for their vision and support, as well as Francisco Mora, President of the Federación Deportiva Nacional de Baile Deportivo, for his proactivity and guidance, which had a powerful impact.

The WDSF also looks forward to welcoming new National Member Bodies from the Pan Am region and seeing current and new members being recognized by their respective National Olympic Committees, a development that will be of great benefit to all DanceSport disciplines in the Americas.

In addition Santiago 2023, Breaking is also set to feature at the 2022 World Games, 2023 Asian Games, 2023 European Games, 2024 Olympic Games and the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

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