By: Cindy Pu
When breakdancer Sunny Choi tells strangers that she will be competing in the 2024 summer Olympics, they laugh at her. The breakdancing competition will be held for the first time at the largest public square in Paris, France: Place de la Concorde square.
Convincing people that breaking, or breakdancing deserves to be an Olympic sport has been hard according to Sunny Choi. Breaking is a judged sport, like figure skating or gymnastics. There is no actual ‘system’ on how to judge breaking except that whoever’s moves are better moves on to the next round. “I just have to hope that you see it one day,” said Sunny Choi, American break dancer.
When Choi’s mother and father moved to Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A from South Korea, they taught their kids to always work hard. Choi became a competitive gymnast and joined a gymnastics team in Kentucky, around 2000. “I remember her doing cartwheels in diapers,” Choi’s brother Jin says.
During her freshman year of college at the University of Pennsylvania, she saw members of the breaking club dancing on the walkway. They persuaded her to come to class, and with her gymnastics background, she had an advantage. After Choi graduated college, she started her career as a cosmetics executive, but she kept breaking, even entering international competitions like the 2022 World Games, where she finished in second place.
In July 2022, Choi left her job as a cosmetics executive, and in 2023, she qualified for the Paris Olympics by winning the Pan American Games. “I feel lighter. I have more energy for the things I want to do.” Choi says.
Out of the thirty-two breakers (16 B-boys and 16 B-girls), Choi is seen as a top contender. “Sunny is someone who has enough material to go all the way through.” says Mary Fogarty, an associate professor of dance at York University, in Toronto, Canada.
Choi is confident that if you give breaking a try, you won’t be disappointed. “You feel the excitement, you feel the happiness or the anger or whatever emotion that the dancer is expressing in that moment. It’s so visceral and raw. I don’t think you get that anywhere else.” she says.