Montpellier’s Bboy Dany won his ticket to the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, where breaking will make its debut, by winning the men’s tournament of the European Games organized in Nowy Sacz (Poland). In an electric final, Bboy Dany beat the Dutchman Menno, reigning European champion, two sets to one. “It’s the result of a lot of sacrifice and hard work. My son had given me a big challenge, he told me “if you don’t win, I’m going to yell at you”, so I felt a little obliged to win today”, exulted this father of family 33, with AFP, shortly after his victory.
Dyed blond and all dressed in purple, the 33-year-old breaker, born in Guyana, chained acrobatic figures on the ground and energetic poses in front of a jury of nine largely convinced dancers. Currently at the top of the world ranking for qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Dany is now guaranteed to be present at Concorde next summer, his victory at Nowy Sacz giving him an Olympic ticket.
“It’s great fun for breaking to enter the Games. I invite all the French to meet next year at La Concorde to encourage us. I now represent them and I am proud of it,” explained Bboy Dany. Among the women, on the other hand, the French delegation missed a great opportunity. Both qualified in the top 8, Bgirl Sissy and Bgirl Carlota were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Lithuanian Nicka and Ukrainian Stefani.
It was the young Dutch India who validated her ticket to Paris after her victory in the final. Breaking confrontations, called “battle”, see two dancers compete one on one in turn on spectacular choreographies. This tournament was organized as part of the European Games, an event bringing together 29 different sports, including 19 Olympic disciplines, which is held until July 2 in Poland.
Some events such as artistic swimming acted as European Championships, while others such as breaking made it possible to obtain quotas or points for the Olympic qualification classification.