Taiwanese Olympic breakout dancer wins Outbreak Europe 2024

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Taiwanese Olympic breakdancer Sun Chen (孫振) won Outbreak Europe 2024 in Slovakia on Sunday.

Chen, known as B-Boy Quake, took first place in the competition, which included 500 B-boys.

At the final, Quake danced off against B-boy Raptor of Ukraine and took the crown after pulling out all the stops to achieve what he said was a "childhood dream."

Speaking with the press after his win, Quake said Sunday it was not his first time competing at the festival.

He said he debuted at the competition in 2019 and through "sheer luck" was able to make it to the quarterfinals, where he was eliminated by his idol, Venezuelan B-boy Lil G.

Quake said that since his 2019 loss, he has been working towards winning at the annual Outbreak Europe.

The Taiwanese Olympian added that he even received recognition from Lil G, who was knocked out in the round of 16 this year.

"I really admire the fact that B-boy Lil G promoted Venezuela to the world through breakdancing," Quake said. "So I once jokingly said I want to become the Wang Chien-ming (王建民, former Taiwanese pitcher for the New York Yankees) of the breakdancing world so that I can use breakdancing to introduce Taiwan to the world."

Quake has set many breakdancing milestones for Taiwan in 2024.

The 24-year-old represented Taiwan in the first-ever breaking Olympic event in Paris earlier this month before becoming the first Taiwanese to reach the final at the Notorious IBE, a major hip-hop dance gathering in the Netherlands.

Although he failed to advance to the quarterfinals in Paris, he took second place at the Notorious IBE before winning Outbreak Europe on Sunday.

He will next compete at the World Battle held in Portugal between Aug. 28 and Sept. 1.