Olympic Breaking 2024: How to Watch the New Breakdancing Event
Kevin Lynch
The B-Boys and B-Girls are ready for action at Paris 2024.
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CNET
From its roots in 1970's New York street culture and the burgeoning hip-hop scene, to a bonafide Olympic sport, Breaking makes its first appearance at the Games this week.

More commonly known as breakdancing, the men's and women's Breaking competitions will see competitors trying to impress a panel of nine judges in a series of one-on-one battles with a DJ and MC providing the music.

The B-boys and B-girls will try to out do each other by performing high-scoring 'Power moves' like acrobatic spins and flips, while the judges will also be awarding points for each routine based on creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality.

A total of 33 B-Boys and B-Girls from 16 nations are set to take part it what could be the first and final appearance of Breaking at an Olympic Games, with the sport not selected for inclusion at the 2028 Olympics in LA.

You can find the full schedule for both the men's and women's events further down in this article.

Although Peacock is the best way to stream the 2024 Olympic games, you can watch much of the Olympics across NBC's family of channels -- NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel -- with cable or satellite TV or a live TV streaming service.

How to watch Olympic Breaking

If you're looking to watch all of the breakdancing action at the 2024 Olympics in the US, you'll want Peacock. Even after a recent price hike, which raises the monthly charge from $6 to $8, Peacock is one of the most affordable streaming services. With it, you can watch any event live; NBC states Peacock will stream 5,000 hours of live coverage throughout the Games, including all 329 medal events and, crucially, every event of both the men's and women's gymnastics.

In addition to live-streaming each event, Peacock will have a whip-around show, Gold Zone, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET (4 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT) each day. If you're watching an event on Gold Zone that you're really into, you can continue to watch it even if Gold Zone cuts away to something else. Peacock will display Live Action on-screen prompts that will let you stay with the event or follow Gold Zone's coverage.

Peacock will also have four multiview options that will let you watch four events at once. You'll be able to watch NBC's nightly Primetime in Paris show on Peacock, and Peacock will have its own daily recap show "hosted" by AI-generated Al Michaels.

Where are the 2024 Olympic breaking being held?

The women's and men's breaking events are being held at Place de la Concorde, the iconic public square in the heart of Paris.

When does the 2024 Olympic breaking event start and end?

Here's the full schedule for the men's and women's events.

Friday, August 9

B-Girls Round Robin - 2 p.m. CET local time, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. PT, 12 a.m. AEST Sunday

B-Girls Quarter-Finals - 8 p.m. CET local time, 7 p.m. BST, 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT, 4 a.m. AEST Sunday

B-Girls Semi-Finals - 8:45 p.m. CET local time, 7:45 p.m. BST, 2:45 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT, 4:45 a.m. AEST Sunday

B-Girls Finals - 9:15 p.m. CET local time, 8:15 p.m. BST, 3:15 p.m. ET, 12:15 p.m. PT, 5:15 a.m. AEST Sunday

Saturday, August 10

B-Boys Round Robin - 2 p.m. CET local time, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. PT, 12 a.m. AEST Sunday

B-Boys Quarter-Finals - 8 p.m. CET local time, 7 p.m. BST, 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT, 4 a.m. AEST Sunday

B-Boys Semi-Finals - 8:45 p.m. CET local time, 7:45 p.m. BST, 2:45 p.m. ET, 11:45 a.m. PT, 4:45 a.m. AEST Sunday

B-Boys Finals - 9:15 p.m. CET local time, 8:15 p.m. BST, 3:15 p.m. ET, 12:15 p.m. PT, 5:15 a.m. AEST Sunday

What's the time difference between Paris and the US?

Paris is 6 hours ahead of New York and the rest of the Eastern time zone. It's 7 hours ahead of the Central time zone, 8 hours ahead of Mountain time and 9 hours ahead of Pacific time.

This difference means that most events will be shown live in the morning and afternoon for US viewers.

Who's on Team USA for Breaking?

Last year's WDSF men's world championship winner Victor Montalvo, known as B-boy Victor leads, Team USA's charge for gold in the Men's competition, with B-boy Jeffro (Jeffrey Louis) as the other American competitor in the field.

Recent Pan American Games winner Sunny Choi (B-girl Sunny) and BC One champion Logan Edra (or B-girl Logistx) will meanwhile be representing Team USA in the women's event.

Do I need Peacock to watch Olympic breaking in the US?

Nope, you can watch the breaking events on TV, but Peacock will give you access to every event.

In the US, you need five TV channels for the Olympics: NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel. Two of those channels -- NBC and E! -- will show the women's and men's Breaking.

NBC will broadcast its Primetime in Paris show each evening in the US. Mike Tirico hosts the show, which includes reports from Snoop Dogg.

What's the best live TV streaming service for the Olympics?

Sling TV is the most affordable option if you live in one of the few markets where it offers NBC. Failing that, YouTube TV is the best service for the Olympics because its base plan, which costs $73, offers all five channels you'll need.

If Sling takes a conditional gold medal and YouTube TV gets the silver among live TV streaming services for watching the Olympics, then Hulu with Live TV is awarded the bronze. It costs only $4 more per month than YouTube TV and includes all five channels for watching the Olympics.

Read more: Best Sports Streaming Service for 2024

With a live TV streaming subscription (or cable-satellite plan), you'll be able to authenticate yourself as a paying TV subscriber to watch live streams of every event on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app or the NBC Olympics app. That's a great option if you don't want to sign up for Peacock and want to pick and choose which events to watch.

All of the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. For more information, check out our live TV streaming services guide.

How to watch Olympics breaking from anywhere with a VPN

If you find yourself unable to view Olympics breaking locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.

With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.

Livestream the 2024 Olympic breaking in the UK

The BBC will broadcast the 2024 Games on its free-to-air channels, but coverage is limited to BBC One and BBC Two. You can also live stream all the action from Paris on the BBC iPlayer.

The BBC promises more than 250 hours of live coverage of the Olympics across the two channels, but not every round of breaking is set to be shown. For those in the UK wanting more comprehensive coverage of both tournaments, as well as the Olympics as a whole, Discovery Plus is where it's at, which is offering 3,800 hours of live coverage across 55 dedicated online channels.

Livestream the 2024 Olympic breaking in Australia

Aussies can watch Olympic breaking on the Nine Network. The Network will have select live coverage of the Olympics, and you can watch on-demand highlights on the network's streaming service 9Now.

Meanwhile, pay-TV service Stan Sport will show all 329 Olympic events ad-free and in 4K Ultra HD.

Livestream the 2024 Olympic breaking in Canada

In Canada, the Games will be broadcast on TV channels CBC, TSN and Sportsnet. They will be shown on the free CBC Gem streaming service also.

Quick tips for streaming the 2024 Olympics breaking using a VPN