2024 Olympics

World Breaking Championship Won By Victor And Nicka

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The World Breaking Championship have concluded in Belgium. Both titles, and their Olympic quota spots, were won by challengers to the sport’s elite figures. In the b-boys event, Victor “Victor” Montalvo, the 2021 champion, took down reigning champion Philip “Phil Wizard” Kim to regain his title. That earned the US a spot in next year’s Olympic field. Meanwhile, the b-girls final saw 16-year-old Dominika “Nika” Banevič of Lithuania take down breaking legend and 2021 champion Ayumi “Ayumi” Fukushima. Nika continues a stellar 2023 that saw her win the 2023 European Games. Furthermore, her win at the World Championships means that India “India” Sardjoe of the Netherlands receives the berth from the European Games.

Breaking makes its Olympic debut in Paris next year. The sport has come leaps and bounds from its origins growing alongside hip-hop. 32 of the world’s top b-boys and b-girls will take place in the inaugural Olympic competition. The sport takes the form of a best-of-three dance battle scored by a panel of judges. Champions from the Asian and Pan American Games will earn berths in 2023. The remaining 18 places will be determined through next year’s Olympic Qualifying Series and universality places.

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Nika Puts The World On Notice

Speaking before her World Championship win, Nicka spoke on what makes her unique as a breaker. “I’m not trying to be someone else and I want to show everybody my unique style. I’m trying to be an all-around breaker because there are some breakers who have strong moves, but they don’t have musicality and also the opposite, but I’m practising everything and that’s what makes me unique,” she told Olympics.com.

Furthermore, she spoke on her complete dedication to the sport. “[I’m a] B-Girl 24/7, and that says everything about me because that’s who I am. People ask me, ‘What do you like doing besides breaking?’, but breaking is everything that I’m doing.” Nicka will now enter the 16-person Olympic field as both European and World champion. The breaking tournament at Paris 2024 is scheduled for August 9 and 10, making it one of the last sports of the Games to be contested.

Read More: South Sudan Men’s Basketball Qualifies For 2024 Olympics

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Dwight Howard Makes Bizzare Threat If He Doesn’t Make The US Olympic Team

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Dwight Howard has become the latest player to express interest in representing the United States at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Team USA has won the last four Olympic gold medals but has elsewhere struggled on the international stage. In particular, the national team has come under fire after failing to medal at the recent FIBA World Cup. This has led a bevy of stars such as LeBron, AD, and Steph Curry to express their interest in competing in Paris.

In the late 2000s, Howard was a go-to pick for the national team. He won a gold medal at the Beijing Games in 2008 as well as a World Cup bronze in 2006. However, he is likely on the outside looking in when it comes to 2024. Despite this, Howard is adamant that he be selected. Furthermore, he has gone as far as to say that if he isn’t selected, he will play for Taiwan and “drop 85”. There’s just one problem with this – Taiwan (or Chinese Taipei as it is referred to by the IOC) can’t qualify for the Olympics. Taiwan is not one of the 24 remaining teams that will compete for one of the four remaining Olympic spots next July.

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Howard Aside, Who Is Still Competing For An Olympic Spot?

As mentioned, there are 24 nations still eligible for an Olympic berth. They will be drawn into four tournaments of six teams and compete at the start of July 2024. The winner of each mini-tournament will get an Olympic berth. Most of the teams still competing come from the FIBA World Cup and include everyone from Puerto Rico and Lebanon to European powerhouses like Spain and Greece.

Beyond these 24 contenders, eight teams have already punched their ticket to the Paris Games. Aside from hosts France, the other seven teams earned their berth in the FIBA World Cup. Aside from the US, Canada, South Sudan, Japan, Germany, Serbia, and Australia have all qualified. That already adds a wealth of NBA and NBA-adjacent talent to the World Cup. Even if the US sends a superteam, this might be their toughest road to the gold medal in some time.

Read More: LeBron and other stars eye 2024 Olympics

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South Sudan Earns Olympic Basketball Berth

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South Sudan’s men’s basketball team has made history as they qualified for the 2024 Olympics this weekend. Finishing their 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign with a 3-2, they took the Olympic berth granted to the highest-finishing African nation at the tournament. The milestone comes just three years after former NBA star Luol Deng took over the program, which he has largely funded himself. South Sudan notched wins over China, Angola, and The Philippines to secure their Olympic spot.

However, not only is it a testament to the team Deng has built, but it marks progress for athletics in South Sudan as a whole. The basketball team became the first South Sudanese athletes to directly qualify for the Olympics. While South Sudan has had five athletes represent them across the past two Olympics, all five qualified via “universality places”. Universality places are awarded by the IOC to ensure global equity at the Olympics.

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South Sudan Headed To The Olympics

“It’s an unbelievable story, an underdog story not just for the South Sudanese, not just for Africa, but for the rest of the world. It’s a feel-good story that majority of people can relate to and such a unique achievement because it’s beyond basketball,” Deng told reporters as he fought back tears. Furthermore, Head coach Royal Ivey shared many of the same sentiments. “It’s been a humbling journey. I had heartaches, I have a lot of ebbs and flows, and it’s a great feeling right now. A year ago we were practicing outside with eagles flying around while we were practicing and the courts were flooded. Like to go from there to come and play in front of these fans in the Philippines, and I’m on cloud nine right now.”

The men’s Olympic tournament has quickly started to fill out as the World Cup enters its knockout stages. The only Olympic berths remaining from the World Cup are those for the two highest-placing European squads. At the time of writing, six European nations remain in the World Cup. While there are many individual stories on the South Sudan rosters, they have been led by the Bulls’ Carik Jones. Born in Cincinnati to Sudanese parents, Jones averaged 20.4 points and 10.4 assists across the team’s five games.

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Ben Simmons Sets 2024 Olympics As Recovery Goal

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Ben Simmons crashed out of the 2022/23 NBA season on March 28. The Australian combo player had struggled with nerve inflammation for most of the month, as well as dealing with a number of other injuries over the course of the season. The Nets, cautious about injuring Simmons further, opted to shut him down for the season as opposed to rushing him back for the playoffs. Despite stating that his aim was to return to action at the FIBA World Cup, Simmons was not named to Australia’s 12-man roster. Meanwhile, Nets GM Sean Marks said that Simmons was not rushing his recovery.

While Simmons’ return to the 2023/24 season is not set in stone, he has made his one recovery milestone very clear. “Olympics? Yeah, 100%. And that’s what I want to do next year,” Simmons told Andscape‘s Marc J. Spears. “I want to play. That’s the other thing. I get messages from Australian people like, ‘Yo, you should be playing right now. Jock Landale is playing right now.’ To me, I’m going to play when I’m ready. There hasn’t really been a time where I’ve been prepared and ready physically. But next year, my goal is to be on the Olympic team.”

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Simmons Eyes Boomers Debut

While Simmons has been named to the Australian National Team several times during his career, he has never appeared in a game for his country. Could that all change in Paris next year? Australia secured their place in the tournament after guaranteeing that they would be the highest-placed nation from Oceania at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. In fact, Australia is the only men’s team other than hosts France to have secured qualification. Simmons had been named to Australia’s Tokyo 2020 roster. However, he chose to miss the tournament to focus on preparing for the 2021/22 NBA season.

Australia has finished as semifinalists at the last two Olympic tournaments. In Tokyo, they earned their first basketball medal with a bronze. They will be hoping to ride their recent wave of momentum into a potential gold medal match come Paris next year. As for Simmons, it is clear that the Australian national team holds him in high regard. However, it will be a matter of how well he can bounce back from injury, and how he stacks up against other players at his position that will determine whether he will finally get his shot with the Boomers.

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