You funny! 
Did you read your whole cite?
Black Breakdancers are horrified she was allowed to represent Australia.
Many quotes of mockery, cultural appropriation and buffoonery. And the body that qualified her may have been suspect.
Yes - she won the competitions that made up qualifying. She won the Oceania Breaking championships, which was designated by the Australian Olympic Committee as the main Qualifying tournament. The fact that many of the other competitors chose not to compete is their problem.
And there is nothing in the rules about ‘avoiding cultural appropriation’.
It’s a sport - it has rules - she didn’t do very well - she didn’t win. (Actually, it looked terrible, but I am not an expert).
If you are worried about ‘cultural appropriation’, put that in the rules. If Black Breakdancers are ‘horrified’, what did they think of the Canadian with Korean heritage who won the Gold Medal?
Meh. Olympic sports have come and gone over the years. Tug-of-War is no longer there. Golf took a hiatus for over 100 years. The standing long jump was last an event in 1912.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen the introduction of such things as snowboarding, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, and beach volleyball.
And some never make it, not even as a demonstration sport. I seem to recall that some enthusiasts were pushing for aerobics to be included in the Olympics, back in the mid-1980s. They weren’t successful, as we all know.
If breaking is popular enough, and has enough international participants (unlike gridiron football), then let it stay in. If interest in it wanes over time, then take it out. But for now, it seems to be athletic enough and popular enough to be included. And it’s fascinating to watch, which is always good for TV.
I present to you… Elizabeth Swaney
Ms Swaney qualified for the olympics by attending every available World Cup qualifying event for 2 years, skiing down the run without falling so she could record a score. She wound up ranked 34th, and the quota system (and injuries) meant she could be one of the 24 olympic competitors by skiing for Hungary.
In every Olympics there are always a couple of competitors who shouldn’t be there.
I think including a few artistic events with subjective judging is fine if it draws more attention to the Olympics. Overall, the Olympics are a positive force, bringing nations together to compete in sport rather than in conflict. If artistic events help broaden the audience, that’s a win. While I don’t personally enjoy most of these events, I recognize that not everyone shares my taste. Additionally, artistic events can give nations that might struggle in traditional athletic competitions a chance to win medals in less costly, less formalized disciplines. So, a few artistic events can be a good thing, as long as they don’t overshadow the core athletic competitions.
Flag (gridiron) football will be a demonstration sport in 2028.
Yeah, because you have a record of standing up against cultural appropriation, that’s your beef.
Your posts here are those of an angry old fool waving a fist at the sky. I don’t care your actual age, you have an old soul–and I mean that in the worst possible way.
For myself? I judge the value of a sport by how often people in it go upside down. Soccer is a dumb sport. Gymnastics is the best sport. Breaking? Way up there with gymnastics. I want more Olympic sports where people spend time upside down, not fewer.
Long time fan of breakdancing, and I thought it was great.
My only reservation about it as an olympic sport is that novelty / freshness is an important factor, and it’s hard to judge that. Yes, creativity is one of the scoring criteria here, but I still think it is a much harder thing to judge than just how well you execute a set of standard moves.
What’s your take on Raygun?
I am old and crochety and loved every minute of Breaking. TV Olympics is not ancient Athens and it must be theatrical. Theater is OK as long as it is tightly focused on the athletes. I don’t need Lady GaGa and Tom Cruise, Snoop Dog and fireworks.
They could drop ‘sports’ that are just diversions of the idle rich like Dressage, Golf and perhaps Sailing. But I don’t believe we need to return to just well oiled, naked bodies in direct combat. Might be good TV though, except maybe Shot Put.
So, I feebly wave my old fist and squeak ‘More Breakin’
If we’re going to cry “cultural appropriation” as a factor, then only rich white biddies should be in dressage, international playboys only in sailing, Hahvad students in rowing, and only American teams in baseball (no “beisbol”, neither!)
And absolutely no Canadian rules football, and definitely no lingerie football! American gridiron football is for real men ™ bashing each other to death.
And they provide some of the most memorable performances such as Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican bobsled team.
Was in a heavy metal band when breaking was freaking invented. Thought it was dumb, pointless, even racial. Since then, it has become an international sport (literally), which brought it to the Olympic Games.
I thought it was awesome this year! Especially the little Japanese girl who won the gold. (B-girl, I think?)
I live in LA, and in getting ti for 2028, Gymnastics is always my first favorite, but Breaking tix will be sold out first around here next games. I’m dying to see it live out here. It kicks ass for me now. Though judging is as confusing as gymnastics or diving.
Breaking was a one off for Paris. It will not be in LA.
Really? I did not know that. I thought it was being promoted for next games. Even so, loved it. Would’ve been better if Butters came out and did the tap-dancing bit. Or if someone added that to their routine and lost a shoe in the lights. 
Well, yeah, there’s a strong argument there, but there’s a bit more to this. I enjoyed it too, but I also enjoy stage musicals and that shouldn’t be in the Olympics either.
The IOC relies on international sports federations to set rules and determine eligibility criteria, and the manner in which breaking got in was sketchy, as evidence by the Rachael Gunn debacle, where you had an absolute hack get in through what can only be described as a con job.
It’ll be a sport, full stop. They don’t do “demonstration sports” anymore. The flag football, cricket, squash, baseball and lacrosse sports are full blown medal events like any other.
Whether they will be in Brisbane (I think we can safely assume cricket will remain) is still TBD. The host country gets a lot of input into that.
can only be described as a con job.
It’s fine; we’ve had eddie the eagle and eric the eel; a fun entrant is no biggie.
The fact that it was the first time this sport / activity was at the olympics just drew the spotlight a bit too harshly.
And the cultural appropriation stuff…wtf?
Many of the most influential breakers have been white or asian, for at least since the 90s if not earlier. Also: inclusivity and free expression are pretty central to the culture around breaking, it runs pretty antithetical to imply that some people are not welcome to participate or they need to look a certain way.
OK. This is semantics. I meant that it’s only in this Olympics and not the next one (although it could be in a future one).