The 2024 Paris Olympics is over and I guess breakdancing is still in the news because of this.
Some of us Filipinos went to social media expressing dismay at Vanessa Sarno's weightlifting performance. I think some of us were thinking like this because we stayed awake in the wee hours looking for at least an instance in which she pressed the barbell above her shoulders.
But yeah, she got the jitters and I believe she's going to use this as fuel to make her Los Angeles stint better. Hidilyn Diaz had a DNF in Beijing before getting the silver medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics so this is not a farfetched thought.
Sarno would be 24 at that point.
By the time the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics rolled in though, I doubt breakdancing would be part of the discussion.
One reason for this is Rachel Gunn's performance at the event. We have to treat breakdancing like we treat how we score rhythmic gymnastics. Or an edgier version of Dancesport. There is a panel of judges that would rate the athlete's basics, degree of difficulty, and spunk. If her skills wow the crowd, then he or she will get a high score.
RayGun did not check any boxes with her performance. Yes, she did a little handstand, but it was far from what the other countries did. It also made breakdancing a bad event choice. It also made matters worse when she belittled all the naysayers which fueled the thought that she treated the Olympics as a free vacation.
The Philippines is one reason why RayGun's actions are a bad thing. If she competed and won for my country, she would have had a lot of perks given to her. She's also got the distinction of becoming the country's third gold medalist.
To further devalue her rationale, here is an Olympedia screenshot.
Notice that there are a lot of "countries" with gold medals. There is even a country called "Unknown City in Asia."
And then there's Namibia, which finished the Paris Olympics with five silver medals.
There are countries like Bangladesh that have been competing for more than fifty years and they have yet to score a medal.
Atozy has 1.6 million followers on YouTube. Four hours after posting this vlog, it has already reached almost 300,000 views. No one is questioning the efforts of the Olympic Committee as well as the breakdancing community.
However, I have to disagree that the Australian breakdancing community is the one to blame here. Going back to rhythmic gymnastics and even dance sports, an athlete and a coach have a planned routine. Moreover, she is wearing a "uniform" that is specifically designed for her. We all know this because of what Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina endured during their golf run.
What was her preparation for the event? How did she qualify? How did she prepare for the event aside from her routine, she came to the event heavy.
I think she mistook the Olympics with America's Got Talent. If she was trying to do a community routine, then she could have doubled down on the skills rather than the theatrics. When she had a zero on her first match, she should have changed her routine.
Also, why do we need three matches for breakdancing? If this is the case, then we need additional rounds and at least a double-elimination format for combat sports. I know constant hits to the head may be dangerous, but the three rounds of boxing aren't enough especially if you know the rules. The first match is the headstart. Once a boxer gets the advantage, then he or she needs to finish the match in the second round so he or she can just evade her opponent in the third round.
It's devastating for the breakdancing community to have their event go one-and-done in the Olympics because of her performance. This could have been a good thing, especially if they combined this with other disciplines. Wushu and capoeira comes to mind.