This is just… sad. The latest addition to the Olympics is a grand metaphor for the descent of the West:
Breakdancing is one of four additional sports expected to be included at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris along with surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding, sources indicated Wednesday.
The list of additions is due to be revealed by the local organising committee (OCOG) on Thursday and must be signed off on by the International Olympic Committee. Their inclusion would come on top of the 28 sports already on the programme, although the Paris 2024 committee did not confirm the reports to AFP.
Breakdancing, an acrobatic style of street dance typically set to hip-hop or funk music, would be making its first appearance in the Olympics, while the three other sports will all be introduced at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. Karate and baseball/softball, all part of the Tokyo programme, are also candidates, as well as squash, which has been repeatedly rebuffed, and petanque.
At least 20 disciplines from federations recognised by the IOC have applied for inclusion.
From the sporting arts of the gentleman to primitive posturing and thrashing about. Petanque, in case you don’t know, is essentially horseshoes with metal balls, or to put it another way, curling on sand. There are few things more pathetic than an old institution attempting to create appeal for “the youth”. And if that’s the goal, they’d do better to simply throw up their hands and embrace esports.