LA Mayor waves flag for 2028 Olympics. (Photo by Etienne LAURENT / AFP)
One sport gained lots of new fans, having debuted at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. However, it won’t return for the 2028 Olympics.
This year’s games are over. The closing ceremony for the 2024 iteration of the quadrennial event was hosted at the Stade de France on Sunday, and everyone is now looking forward to its next stop: Los Angeles.
The next Summer Olympics will introduce six new sports. Four sports—lacrosse, cricket, baseball, and softball—are set to return, with flag football and squash to debut.
Sadly, a new, popular Olympic sport won’t return, with breakdancing cut from the schedule.
The International Olympic Committee removed breakdancing from the 2028 games before this year’s games began. Still, there was hope that it would be added once participants showed how attractive it could be as an Olympic discipline.
Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, known as Raygun, was one of the performers who trended during the breakdancing segments and was not happy to learn that she won’t have an opportunity to return in 2028.
“It was disappointing it was decided that it wouldn’t be in L.A., particularly before we even had a chance to show it,” she said. “That was possibly a little premature. I wonder if they’re kicking themselves now?
“What is an Olympic sport? What are the similarities between dressage and artistic swimming and the 100m sprint and the pentathlon? Breaking is clearly athletic, it clearly requires a whole level of dedication across a number of different aspects. It’s really bringing a new level of excitement.”
Raygun Might Be Responsible For The IOC Deciding Not To Add Breakdancing To The 2028 Olympics
Raygun did not give a particularly good account of herself at the games, but she went viral online because fans found her participation comical.
It’s even rumored that her performance ruined any chance of breakdancing being added to the 2028 Olympics.
Who knows? It may be back in 2032.