Paris (AFP)

For Mounir, no Olympics this summer in Tokyo, but in 2024 in Paris where breaking, a very rhythmic floor dance from hip-hop culture, will make its entry into the Olympic program.

“It's going to be stylish!”, Ignites the 24-year-old “bboy” (breaking practitioner).

Until the Paris Games in 2024, Mounir tells AFP his career.

In this first episode, he talks about his lifestyle around breaking, his new status as a high-level athlete, his life as an entertainment worker and his unexpected Olympic dream.

"Being + bboy + is being part of a culture, hip-hop culture is a lifestyle, listening to a certain type of music, bathing in an atmosphere. You can find that in the video clips. , those which turn on the head roughly, but it is a dance which is rather based on the ground ".

"A real + bboy + has the way of life. He starts by listening to rap, French or American, he thinks training, he will do battles (duels in competition), what hip-hop culture has brought back is sharing, transmission. It is also resourcefulness, because it was born in the street, we made it in the streets, now that has changed, but the first generations it was in the streets ".

"It could not have been at the Olympics, but it is and it's consistent with our era and the discipline, it will rejuvenate the Olympics, it will attract a new audience. I think it will bring freshness back. , it's stupid but simply it will be stylish! There will be this music side too, I don't know what other sport has that. It's an art and it will remain an art, but there is also this sporting side, with the + battle + put in place almost every weekend. Breaking has taken on a lot of importance. There is a real public, many, it's not a small niche, it's a big niche! "

- "I just wanted to dance" -

“People say the Games will distort breaking, others think it's good. I don't think it's going to distort the break. It's every four years, not every weekend. And maybe it will only last for 2024, maybe it will go badly, that it will not be as interesting as that for the IOC, and that in 2028 there will not be, we do not know. So it is there, and we take advantage of it ".

"Me now, I entered the ministerial list of high level athletes, I have access to different structures such as Insep. Via my status I can apply for scholarships and financial aid to be able to devote myself only to to that, to my training and performance ".

"I am also intermittent in the show, it is the only way as a dancer to earn money and to live from that. On the competitions, if you win a battle, you can have 200, 300 euros. I juggle with my career as a dancer in a dance company ".

"And I also got my back in case, I graduated in chemistry. The Games, I had never thought of it before. I just wanted to dance! I didn't really ask myself any questions, I was living just the thing. I wasn't interested. "

"It's been a long time since I watched the Olympics, but now I'm going to watch the Tokyo Games, I'll be able to say to myself: + Maybe I'll be in their place. + That will help me. to dream, to tell myself that I can do it In 2024, I will be able to say to myself: + I saw the other win the medal three years ago, in 2021, now in 2024, it's mine! + I will watch and dream, hoping to be there one day ".

Interview by Sabine COLPART

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