OLYMPICS/Taiwan B-Boy breaks into inaugural Olympic competition

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Taiwanese breakdancer Sun Chen (孫振) on Sunday (Budapest time) secured his place as Taiwan's first B-Boy to compete in Olympic breakdancing after taking part in the second leg of the discipline's qualifier series in Budapest, Hungary.

With breaking making its debut as an event at the quadrennial summer Olympics, a two-part Olympic Qualifier Series was held in Shanghai, China, and Budapest to finalize the competitors in four "urban sports" disciplines announced by the International Olympic Committee

The other three events were BMX freestyle, skateboarding and sport climbing, all of which debuted at the Olympics after 2000.

After a two-year selection process and competitive events, 40 B-Boys (male break dancers) and 40 B-Girls (female break dancers) were chosen to compete against each other from May 16-19 in Shanghai, followed by the most recent dance-off from June 20-23 in Budapest, to vie for a chance to compete in the inaugural breakdancing event at the Olympics.

According to the regulations, breakers placing in the top seven from the combined rankings in Shanghai and Budapest qualify to compete in Paris in July.

Taiwan's Sun, better known as "B-Boy Quake," placed 10th overall.

He first placed seventh when competing with a leg injury last month in Shanghai, an event at which he was only able to dance with the assistance of painkillers.

However, after getting into the quarterfinals, Sun was out danced by China's Qi Xiangyu (亓祥宇), a.k.a. B-Boy Lithe-ing.

In Budapest, after dancing his way into the round of 16, Sun on Sunday competed against other B-Boys from the United States, the Netherlands and Ukraine, but was unable to make it into the quarterfinals and placed 15.

With a combined score of 60 out of 100, Sun took 10th place but was fortunate enough to still get an invitation to compete in Paris, as the number of qualified competitors was increased to 10.

Moreover, the National Olympic Committees placed a limit of two dancers from each country in the qualifiers, which ensured Sun's inclusion after Japan and the U.S. exceeded their quota.

Following his achievement, Sun released a statement through his agency saying he is honored to represent Taiwan next month, adding that he will do his best to do justice to an achieved dream.

Speaking with CNA, Sun's coach Su Chih-peng (蘇志鵬) said B-Boy Quake was under a lot of pressure before Budapest as he had just recovered from the leg injury.

With his training switched to quality over quantity to nurse the injury, Sun's coaching team were concerned at his fitness level, but he recovered well enough prior to the second leg of the qualifiers under the care of sports science therapists from Taiwan's National Sports Training Center.

Su went on to add that he hopes following the confirmation of Sun's place at the Olympics Taiwan will begin to value breakdancing as a sport and do more to cultivate it.

"There are many countries in the world, and yet Taiwan was able to make it to the Olympics," Su said. "The achievement was not easy, but it also allows the world to see Taiwan's breaking and the sport could be further cultivated, so one day maybe more people can represent Taiwan."