Seventeen-year-old breakdancing phenom Liu Qingyi will captain the first-ever Chinese national team in the newest Olympic sport as they try to qualify for Paris 2024.
Qingyi, a 2022 WDSF World Breaking Championships silver medalist, is the captain of the breaking team composed of four boys and four girls. Last Sunday, January 8, the trials for the selection process reached their conclusion.
According to an article from Paris 2024, the newest Olympic sport, including sport climbing, and skateboarding, are added because they are “closely associated with youth and reward creativity and athletic performance.”
Qingyi will lead the women’s breaking team of China. Her members are Zeng Yingying (B-girl Yingzi), Zheng Ziyan (B-girl Ziyan), and Peng Ying (B-girl Daying).
Qi Xiangyu, Zhang Xinjie, and Yu Ziang will team up for the male category. 2018 Youth Olympic quarterfinalist Shang Xiaoyu will join this team. Joining them is 2018 Youth Olympic quarterfinalist Shang Xiaoyu (B-boy X-rain)
As the overall leader, Qingyu said she is honored to represent her country. She hopes they can easily qualify to give them enough time to prepare their ‘secret weapon.’
“It was another big honor for me. I have set my goal [for] Paris 2024 and hope I can get the qualification as early as possible this year so I can prepare some ‘secret weapons’ for the Olympic Games,” she said.
Chinese Dancesport Federation president Yen Guochen announced that both breaking teams would be busy collecting Olympic points.
“The most important competitions this year are the World Championships in Leuven, Belgium in September and the Hangzhou Asian Games. The winners of these two events will get a direct ticket to Paris 2024.
“Besides the worlds and the Asiad, there are some other qualifications where our athletes will participate to collect Olympic ranking points.”
Who is Liu Qingyi?
- Liu Qingyi hails from Central China’s Henan Province.
- At 16, she won the World Battle 2022, competed by players from over 50 countries and regions.
- Liu then became the champion of the women’s division of the Outbreak Europe 2022 hip-hop competition.
- She is the first Chinese B-girl ever to win Outbreak 2022.
- She received the silver medal in the 2022 WDSF World Breaking Championship in Seoul, South Korea.
- She ranks eight in breaking with 750 points, and their team is at seven for the Olympic qualifier.
Sharing her thought on including breakdancing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Liu was glad that the sport would have global attention. Adding the sport would “eliminate the prejudice against it,” she added.
OKBET players who will tune in on the upcoming Olympics will surely cheer on this young breakdancer, aiming to give her country a gold medal.
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