Japanese teen breakers dominate WDSF Breaking for Gold World Series in Hong Kong, eyes set on Paris Olympics

On the women’s side, Riko of Japan (Riko Tsuhako) defeated Ukraine’s Stefani in the finals, while Ayane, also from Japan, claimed the bronze after besting Italy’s Anti.

Of the six podium spots, three were claimed by teenagers, showing the rise of a new generation of breakers.

At 18 years old, Issin is nearly half the age of second-place Wing, who is 35. The men’s third-place finisher, B-boy Hiro10 is 19. Of the B-girls, Riko is just 16 years old, while the silver medallist, Stefani, is 29.

“It’s getting more and more popular [in Japan],” said Hiro10, whose real name is Hiroto Ono. “A lot of children started breaking, and we have a lot of opportunity to teach them, more sponsorships, and I can travel, so I think it’s easier to live with breaking than ever before.”

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A few veteran B-boys at the competition admitted that the sport was becoming more popular with youth.

B-boy Lussy Sky, 32, from Ukraine, said: “Now, I am travelling a lot, and I see more and more [of the] young generation – they start to practise because they have motivation, they have a lot of goals.”

Another B-boy El Nino, aged 33, agreed that more children were joining the global breaking community, but admitted that was not the case in his home country, the US.

“I see more outside of the United States, [but] I wish we had more kids interested in it in the US,” he said. “But I think that it’s just the evolution of it ... and it’s so hard now that you really have to start at a young age.”

“People [should be] actively going out, trying to recruit children that are interested in it and keep them interested in it – because you have to start off young.”

Many of the top competitors from this weekend’s event hope to represent their country next year at the Paris Olympics, where breakdancing will make its debut as an Olympic sport. Some told Young Post that they were expecting a new wave of youth interest following the Games.

“I mean we usually see a boost after some major event or some major movie,” El Nino said. “Like when You Got Served came out, there was a huge boost. When the Step Up movies came out, you see a huge boost in the dance studios.”

“I think we’ll see a boost in youth [after the Olympics] – it’s just all who sticks around with it.”

Breaking has already been gaining traction thanks to the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympics, where the sport was featured for the first time. Breaking also made its Asian Games debut earlier this year in Hangzhou.

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B-boy Lorenzo of the Netherlands, who finished in Breaking for Gold’s top 16, said: “Breaking will definitely become more popular because it’s in the Olympics.”

“A lot of people that don’t know breaking are going to see [it], and hopefully we leave a good impression and the people are going to like it. Hopefully, it spreads our culture to the rest of the world,” added the 18-year-old, who became the youngest B-boy to win the Red Bull BC One E-battle in 2022.

Canadian B-girl Emma, 23, also expected the Olympics to attract more women into the traditionally male-dominated sport.

“I think when other women see the B-girl section and they see how good the B-girls are, it will inspire them to want to break too,” she said.