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Breaking, more commonly known as break dancing, will make its Olympic debut in the 2024 Paris Games. It’s the first dance discipline to be included in the Olympics and it will be scored like other sports with a panel of nine judges grading each competitor’s routine.
Breaking’s origins can be traced back to the Bronx in the late 1970s, but it didn’t become an international competition until the 1990s.
Both the men and women’s breaking competitions will take place on August 9th and 10th at the Place de la Concorde. There are 16 competitors for each gender’s breaking event.
If you are looking to bet on the Olympics, keep reading below as we dive into the latest Paris Games Men’s Breaking odds and make our Summer Olympics Men’s Breaking predictions.
Breaking Down The Scoring and Competition Format
The men’s breaking competition will feature a round robin format where two participants go head-to-head in a best of three battle. When one dancer finishes, his opponent will immediately begin. This format continues into the quarterfinals, then the semifinals, and eventually the medal winning battles.
Nine judges will score each B-boy on the following six criteria:
- Creativity
- Personality
- Technique
- Variety
- Performativity
- Musicality
Creativity and performativity carry 60% of the score. The other four criteria will make up 40% of the overall score per battle.
Paris Olympics Men’s Breaking Odds
Check out the latest Paris Olympics Men’s Breaking odds courtesy of the best sports betting sites:
Olympics Odds | Olympics Odds |
---|---|
B-Boy Victor – Victor Montalvo (USA) +115 | B-Boy Phil Wizard – Philip Kim (CAN) +225 |
B-Boy Shigekix – Shigeyuki Nakarai (JPN) +550 | B-Boy Lee – Lee-Lou Diouf Demierre (NED) +1000 |
B-Boy Dany – Danis Civil (FRA)+1000 | B-Boy Lithe-ing – Xiangyu Qi (CHN) +1600 |
B-Boy Jeffro – Jeffrey Mike Louis (USA) +1800 | B-Boy Amir – Amir Zakirov (KAZ) +2000 |
B-Boy Lagaet – Gaetan Rodrigue Alin (FRA) +2000 | B-Boy Menno – Menno Van Gorp (NED) +2000 |
B-Boy Hiro10 – Hiroto Ono (JPN) +2500 | B-Boy Hongten – Kim Hong-Yul (KOR) +3300 |
B-Boy Quake – Chen Sun (TPE) +5000 | B-Boy J Attack – Jeffrey Dan Arpie Dunne (AUS) +8000 |
B-Boy Billy – Bilal Mallakh (MAR) +10000 | B-Boy Kuzya – Oleg Kuznietsov (UKR) +10000 |
Paris Olympics Men’s Breaking Favorites
The following competitors are considered the odds-on favorites to win the Men’s Breaking gold medal:
B-Boy Victor – Victor Montalvo (USA) +115
Victor Montalvo, age 30, qualified for the Paris Games by winning the gold medal at the WDSF World Championships last year. His father was also a B-boy, which meant that Victor was raised to appreciate this style of dancing.
By the age of 21, Montalvo won his first world championship. He captured a second one in 2022. B-boy Victor is considered by many to be the best male breakdancer in the world. Will that translate into gold?
B-Boy Phil Wizard – Philip Kim (CAN) +225
B-boy Phil Wizard comes in with odds slightly behind Victor, but is a real contender for the Olympic gold in breaking. In fact, B-boy Phil Wizard and B-boy Victor are often alternating between championships.
Real name, Phillip Kim, the Canadian breakdancer won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago last November. He also won the world title for the 2022 WDSF championships and was runner up at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships.
B-Boy Shigekix – Shigeyuki Nakarai (JPN) +550
Not only will B-boy Shigekix compete for a podium spot at the Paris Olympics, but he’s also been named as one of Japan’s co-flag bearers. It’s amazing how these talented breakdancers continue to earn historic honors in Paris.
The 22-year-old is a rising star in breaking and has regularly competed against the odds-on favorites – Victor and Phil. Nakarai finished third at the World breaking Championships last September, behind the two favorites. However, he did go on to win the gold medal at the Asian Games just a month later.
B-boy Shigekix might be the favorite to win bronze in Paris, but he does offer better value than B-boy Phil Wizard and B-boy Victor.
B-Boy Dany – Danis Civil (FRA)+1000
B-boy Dany is France’s top breakdancer and a credible option to win gold in his home country this August. Danis Civil has been breaking for over two decades now and has been a mainstay at the top of the global breaking scene. At the age of 36, Civil continues to win major competitions.
An example of this was when he captured gold at the 2023 European Games, which automatically qualified him for the Olympics. At +1000 odds, and representing France, B-boy Dany offers great betting value on top of being a very talented dancer.
Paris Olympics Men’s Breaking Sleeper
B-boy Victor gets most of the attention for American breakers in Paris, but B-boy Jeffro (+1800) is a dancer to keep your eyes on. In fact, he could be the biggest sleeper of this competition.
The 29-year-old from Houston, Texas, has a lengthy list of accolades including winning big regional events in 2022 along with finishing as the silver medalist at the World Games.
Real name, Jeffery Mike Louis, B-boy Jeffro was a big proponent for getting breaking into the Olympics. Introduced to breaking by his older brother, Louis has become one of the top American breakdancers and will be a serious threat to the favorites in August.
Paris Olympics Men’s Breaking Predictions: Who Wins Gold?
The entire breaking culture around the world wins gold by even being part of the Olympics. What an amazing accomplishment to get this style of dance into the world’s most popular athletic competition.
I would love to see a gold medal dance battle between B-boy Victor and B-boy Phil Wizard. These two dancers are at the top of the game when it comes to breaking competitions. Their creativity and command of power moves are absolutely mesmerizing.
With that said, even if we’re not treated to a gold medal dance battle between those two, we should still see an unforgettable display of dancing over these two days of competition.
As for the winner, I am leaning towards America’s B-boy Victor to take home the gold medal. Montalvo’s history of success on the biggest stages of dance, combined with his near-perfect breaking, make him the dancer to beat and to bet on in Paris.
Bet: B-Boy Victor - Victor Montalvo (USA) +115