'The B-boy at Forty' Kim Hong-yeol, 3rd in Group C... Fails to Advance to Breaking Quarterfinals [Paris Olympics]

After a 1-1 Draw with Allin and Lewis, Victory in Total Votes
Failed to Advance to Quarterfinals Due to Fewer Rounds Won

Kim Hong-yeol (40), known as the living legend of the B-boy world ‘Hongten,’ failed to advance to the quarterfinals in the breaking event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Breaking national representative Kim Hong-yeol (Hongten) is competing in the Breaking B-Boy Group C league of the '2024 Paris Olympics' held on the 11th (Korean time) at the La Concorde1 arena in Paris, France. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

On the 10th (local time), Kim Hong-yeol ranked 3rd in Group C during the B-boy group round held at Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. The top two from each group advance to the quarterfinals.

B-boy Jeffrey Lewis from the United States, known as Jepro, took 1st place, and Lee (Leirau Demir, Netherlands) secured 2nd place, earning spots in the quarterfinals.

The complete loss in the first match was painful. Earlier, Kim Hong-yeol was defeated 0-2 in round scores by Dutch dancer Lee (24) in their first match. In the second match, he drew 1-1 against France’s Lagayet (36), keeping his hopes for the quarterfinals alive. In the final third match, Kim Hong-yeol tied 1-1 with American Jepro (30). Depending on the result of the match between Lee and Lagayet held immediately afterward, there was still a chance to advance, but Lee defeated Lagayet 2-0, confirming Kim Hong-yeol’s elimination.

Kim Hong-yeol won 2 rounds and earned 27 votes across the three matches. Jepro took 1st place in Group C with 5 round wins and 37 votes, while Lee ranked 2nd with 4 round wins and 29 votes.

The breaking event features dance battles between two dancers, with each match consisting of 2 rounds. In each round, 9 judges vote on who performed better, and the dancer with more votes wins the round. During the group preliminaries, each dancer competes in 3 matches, and rankings are determined by the number of rounds won. If the number of rounds won is the same, the dancer with the higher total votes across the 3 matches ranks higher.

Breaking national representative Kim Hong-yeol (Hongten) is competing in the Breaking B-Boy Group C league at the '2024 Paris Olympics' held on the 11th (Korean time) at La Concorde1 arena in Paris, France.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Kim Hong-yeol is regarded as a legend not only in Korea but also in the global breaking community. He started dancing in 1998 when he was in the 2nd year of middle school and has been active on the world stage since 2001. He has won the world’s largest one-on-one B-boying competition, the Red Bull BC One World Final, three times (2006, 2013, and 2023). At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, where breaking was included as a sport for the first time in an international competition, he won a silver medal.

As the oldest athlete among all participants in the Paris Olympics breaking event, his golden ‘last dance’ unfortunately will not be seen on stage.

Breaking will not be included as an official event in the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Games, so for Kim Hong-yeol, born in 1984, this is expected to be his first and last Olympic competition.

Born in December 1984 and soon turning 40, Kim Hong-yeol is 23 years older than Australia’s youngest B-boy Jeffrey Dunn (16, J Attack), who also competed in this event. With relentless effort, Kim Hong-yeol challenged the Olympic stage for the first and last time, competing against dancers half his age in pursuit of a golden challenge, but ultimately had to stop at the group stage.