Paris proposes breakdancing for 2024 Olympics.

Once the final results were in, the announcer boomed on his microphone, not the name of the winner – Sergei Chernyshev – nor his country – Russia – but the moniker the teenager had been known by throughout the 2018 Youth Olympics: Bumblebee. The same procedure was followed in declaring Japan’s Ramu Kawai – Ram – as the girls’ champion.

This was a break from the norm of an Olympic event, but having a stage name is a given when it comes to breakdance, or street dancing. It was arguably the most peculiar discipline when it debuted, at any level of the Olympics, at the junior event in Buenos Aires. But as it pans out, both Bumblebee and Ram will potentially have a chance for a senior medal at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

In its proposal on Thursday, the organizing committee of the Paris Olympics have put forward breakdancing as an official discipline when the global event descends upon France in five years.

This is a major step forward in our ambition to organize a unique Olympic Games… that would have an impact and the element of surprise, said Tony Estanguet, the head of the organizing committee to AFP. The three-time canoe Olympic gold medallist went further to mention that breakdancing, along with skateboarding, climbing and surfing would make the Olympics more artistic.

As it stands, the dance-sport’s inclusion to the 2024 program is still in the proposal stage, and the organizing committee will have to submit their recommendations to the International Olympic Committee . The final decision will be taken in December 2020.

The racquet sport had been dealt a blow at the Rio Games when it lost out to golf. It further irked the squash community when a host of high-profile golfers – including the top four men’s players at the time Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy respectively – opted to skip the Olympics altogether, citing the Zika virus threat.

For the future, said world no 11 Saurav Ghosal at the time, I hope the IOC restructures their decision making a process to include a sport that actually wants to be there.

Similarly, Esports, which had been included as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games, has not found the required push to the Olympics. However in this case, it is the ‘violent’ nature of the popular computer games played that have proven to be a deterrent.

We cannot have in the Olympic program a game which is promoting violence or discrimination. If you have e-games where it’s about killing somebody, this cannot be brought in line with our Olympic values, IOC President Thomas Bach had told the BBC in September.