Breaking veteran Hong 10 to rep Korea at La Concorde
![Kim Hong-yul, better known as Hong 10, competes during the B-boy round robin at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary, on June 23. [XINHUA/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/07/23/510b85f8-78bb-4da7-ab82-f9f16375fd6a.jpg)
Kim Hong-yul, better known as Hong 10, competes during the B-boy round robin at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary, on June 23. [XINHUA/YONHAP]
The newest, and arguably flashiest, and most definitely grooviest, Olympic sport will be one of the final events to take place in Paris.
Breaking will run on Aug. 9 and 10 at La Concorde, an iconic public square near the Champs-Elysees getting a makeover into an urban plaza. The outdoor area will also act as the venue for 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle and skateboarding.
Veteran B-boy Hong 10 is Korea’s only shot at bringing home an inaugural breaking medal.
![The Place de la Concorde is seen in Paris on June 17. The square will host 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboarding during the Paris Olympics. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/07/23/3f669ba2-bf9b-412d-861e-0d390f5bd11c.jpg)
The Place de la Concorde is seen in Paris on June 17. The square will host 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboarding during the Paris Olympics. [AP/YONHAP]
At 40 years old, Hong 10, also known as Kim Hong-yul, will be the oldest B-boy at the Olympics. He broke out onto the international breaking scene during the early 2000s — and never left.
He rose to fame as a member of the B-boy crew Expression and is a three-time winner of the Red Bull BC One Championship, one of the biggest individual international breaking competitions, winning titles in 2006, 2013 and 2023.
Breaking will begin with a round robin stage where dancers will be split into groups of four, and the top two from each group move on to the knockout quarterfinals.
There will be 16 B-girls and 16 B-boys. Competition for each of the B-girls and B-boys contests will run the length of an entire day, with the B-girls battling on Aug. 9 and the B-boys on Aug. 10.
The rest of the tournament will work in a single elimination style where the dancers will face off one-on-one.
Each match will have three throwdowns. The dancer with the most points wins the throwdown, and the dancer who wins more throwdowns wins the match.
Each throwdown cannot be longer than 60 seconds, but there are no penalties to restrict a dancer from going over.
Judges are tasked with grading the dancer’s creativity, personality, technique, variety and flow to determine the winner.
BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)