To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Vice president of popular sport removed from 2028 Olympics speaks out after replacement already named

Vice president of popular sport removed from 2028 Olympics speaks out after replacement already named

Five new sports will be included at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, but one fan favourite will be missing

There are plenty of former Olympic sports which burned brightly yet briefly at the games.

We no longer see athletes from all over the world competing in tug-of-war or solo synchronised swimming, possibly because there's no way to synchronise when you're swimming solo.

One-handed weightlifting, duelling pistol shooting, cricket, karate and polo are just a handful of the other events which aren't part of the Olympics any longer.

Joining those ranks after a brief but memorable showing at Paris 2024 is breakdancing, officially known as breaking.

The sport was a new addition to the Olympics this time around, but when the games head to Los Angeles in 2028 there won't be any breakdancing going on.

The Olympics giveth, and the Olympics taketh away. Sorry, breakdancing.(Elsa/Getty Images)
The Olympics giveth, and the Olympics taketh away. Sorry, breakdancing.(Elsa/Getty Images)

Breakdancing at the Olympics really rather took off in people's minds, thanks in no small part due to Australian dancer Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn.

While it was Canada and Japan which took gold medals in the event, it's the Australians who everyone was talking about.

Sadly there'll be no more Raygun at the Olympics since the sport was dropped for 2028, and the Australian has branded the decision 'disappointing' and 'possibly a little premature'.

She said: "Breaking is clearly athletic, it clearly requires a whole level of dedication across a number of different aspects. It’s really bringing a new level of excitement."

Zack Slusser, vice president of Breaking for Gold USA and USA Dance told NBC it was a 'miracle' that they even got into the Olympics in the first place.

He said: "It was a miracle that we were even in Paris to begin with.

How about a bracing spot of cricket instead? (Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
How about a bracing spot of cricket instead? (Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

"The amount of exposure to the right people that can bring real change to our community, to our platform to help it grow — it'll be significant to us. It'll allow us, for the first time, to find sustainability and help us elevate our platform.

"It would be great to see breaking make it back to the Olympic Games again.

"But at the same time, it's really going to go back to community work and leveraging this opportunity internally."

So even if there's no more breaking at the Olympics, it's done plenty to raise the profile of the sport and bring new people into it, and perhaps that heightened profile will bring it back to Olympic prominence one day in the future.

Meanwhile, as some sports are knocked off the Olympic roster, a few others are coming in for LA 2028.

Remember how we said cricket was one of those former Olympic sports?

It's coming back for 2028 along with squash, lacrosse, baseball/softball and flag football (the American kind of football).

Featured Image Credit: Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images Elsa/Getty Images

Topics: Olympics, Sport