Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
Bringing breaking to the world stage
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August 3, 2024
9 minutes
Available for over a year
Breaking makes its debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but its origins as a sport go back to 1970s New York.
Michael Holman formed a group of the most talented breakdancers in the city called 'The New York City Breakers'.
He remembers when the crew performed at a salute for the US Olympic team in 1984, where they wrote a proclamation backstage - proposing it should be a future event at the games, with a set of rules to go with it.
This is a Whistledown production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Breakdancers in 1984 in New York, Brooklyn. Credit: Getty Images)