Podcast Summary
Judging criteria in breaking competitions: The lack of clear and objective judging criteria in breaking competitions hinders the potential inclusion of the sport in the Olympics, emphasizing the importance of establishing fair and transparent evaluation methods.
While the increasing representation of women athletes in the Olympics is a significant step towards gender equality, other aspects of sports, such as breaking or dancing, still lack clear and objective judging criteria. The informal and opaque judging system in breaking competitions, where judges simply point to the winner without explanation, has long troubled Storm, a legendary b-boy. To turn breaking into an Olympic sport, the need for a more transparent and fair judging system became crucial. Despite the complexity in determining a winner in some sports, it's essential to establish clear criteria to ensure fairness and maintain the integrity of the competition.
Breaking judging criteria: Influential figures Storm and Renegade led efforts to define and redefine breaking judging criteria, focusing on creativity, charisma, style, strength, and musicality for fairness, valuable feedback, and community growth.
Storm and Renegade, two influential figures in the world of breaking, have spent decades striving to elevate the art form and improve the judging process. They recognized the importance of battles in breaking culture and sought to make the judging more objective and professional. In 2013, they brought together leading figures in the scene to define and redefine the judging criteria, focusing on elements such as creativity, charisma, style, strength, and musicality. Their efforts aimed to ensure fairness, provide valuable feedback, and foster growth within the breaking community.
Breaking dance judging system: The three-fold judging system preserves breaking's unique essence while bringing legitimacy to competitions, but incorporating it into the Olympics poses a risk to authenticity.
The breaking dance community, led by Storm and Renegade, worked to establish a new judging system based on the categories of physical technique, artistic creativity, and interpretative response to music. This system, known as the three-fold system, aimed to preserve the unique essence of breaking as a non-conformist art form while also bringing legitimacy to competitions. However, when the Olympics expressed interest in incorporating breaking as a sport, Storm and Renegade faced a dilemma. While they saw it as an opportunity to share their culture with the world, they also worried about the potential loss of authenticity and the impact of Olympic values on the community's ethos. Ultimately, they decided to proceed, recognizing the potential benefits for the breaking scene and its dancers.
Breaking and Olympics: Pioneers Storm and Renegade successfully advocated for a nuanced judging system in the Olympics, balancing objectivity and creativity in breaking competitions
The world of breaking, a dance form often referred to as the "fifth element" of hip hop, is on its way to becoming an official Olympic sport. However, the journey to get there wasn't easy. Storm and Renegade, two pioneers in the breaking scene, sought to make the contests more fair and objective. They proposed a new judging system with six categories, but it was still considered too loose by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The turning point came when the IOC tried to impose a points system, which the breaking community strongly opposed. Instead, Storm and Renegade managed to convince the IOC to adopt a more nuanced judging system that balanced objectivity and creativity. This system was first tested at the 2018 Youth Olympics, and Storm and Renegade served as the head judges. The success of this experiment marked a significant milestone for breaking, bringing it closer to Olympic recognition while preserving its unique essence.
Sports Judging: Objective vs Subjective: Sports judging varies from rigid points-based systems to holistic impression-based ones. Artistic swimming faced criticism for inconsistent results and lack of objectivity, leading to a new points-based evaluation system. This hybrid approach aims to balance objectivity and subjectivity while preserving the unique qualities of each sport.
The world of sports judging encompasses a spectrum from rigid, points-based systems to more holistic, impression-based ones. The discussion focuses on two contrasting examples: breaking, which values spontaneity and lacks a comprehensive points system, and artistic swimming, which initially employed a holistic judging approach but faced criticism for its subjectivity. Artistic swimming, previously known as synchronized swimming, was criticized for its inconsistent results and perceived lack of objectivity. The new judging system, which made its Olympics debut this year, now includes a points-based evaluation. This change aims to address concerns over transparency and fairness. Elliot Schwartz, an expert in points-based judging systems, saw potential in optimizing artistic swimming's new system. He drew parallels to the evolution of figure skating's judging system, which combined quantifiable technical scores with a subjective artistic score. This hybrid approach is intended to provide a balanced evaluation while maintaining the unique qualities of each sport. In essence, the discussion highlights the ongoing efforts to strike a balance between objective and subjective elements in sports judging, ensuring fairness, transparency, and maintaining the inherent nature of each sport.
Obsession with difficulty in sports judging: The focus on landing difficult skills in judging systems can lead to undervaluing of artistry, but new hybrid systems aim to inspire athletes to excel in both areas.
While figure skating and artistic swimming have implemented hybrid judging systems to balance artistry and technical skills, the focus on landing difficult skills has led to an "obsession with difficulty" and potential undervaluing of artistry. Elliot, a data analyst, advises athletes to prioritize technical elements due to the objective nature of scoring, but this trend has resulted in diminished emphasis on artistic impression. However, Cheryl, an artistic swimming judge, believes that the new judging system has reinvigorated the sport, motivating teams to work harder and push boundaries. Ultimately, these judging systems aim to inspire athletes to excel in both technical prowess and artistic expression, reflecting the essence of competitive sports.
Overshadowing artistic aspects of Olympic sports: The potential risk of focusing too much on competition and performance in Olympic sports may overshadow their artistic and creative aspects, limiting public perception to just battles and missing out on their rich cultural significance.
Learning from the discussion on the podcast is the potential risk of overshadowing the artistic and creative aspects of Olympic sports, such as breaking, due to the intense focus on competition and performance. Storm is excited about the exposure breaking will receive during the Olympics in Paris, but he fears that people may only see it as a series of battles and miss out on its rich cultural significance. This is a concern that could extend beyond the Olympics and impact public perception of the sport as a whole. It's important to remember that breaking, like many other artistic and creative pursuits, is multifaceted and offers more than just competition. This episode of the podcast, produced by Emma Peasley and edited by Jenny Lawton, featured conversations on finding peace in unusual places, safety in motion, and reinventing oneself when feeling stuck.