The Canadian defeated France's Dany Dann in front of a cheering crowd to claim the first men's gold medal in breaking.
Canadian B-Boy Phil Wizard has won the first ever gold medal in men's breaking at the Paris Olympics and said he hopes it will “open the doors for people” involved in the high-energy dance sport.
Phil Wizard, real name Philip Kim, beat French B-Boy Dany Dann in Saturday's final amid the opulent grandeur of the Place de la Concorde, while US B-Boy Victor took bronze.
Breakdancing, better known as breakdancing, will make its first and possibly last appearance at the Olympic Games, after being left off the Los Angeles 2028 programme.
Phil Wizard said breaking was “an underrated sport” and hoped its Olympic debut would change people’s minds.
“I hope today was a perfect example to show the world how amazing breaking is. That was really my only goal here,” said the 27-year-old, a former world champion.
“I’m very grateful and happy to have won, but more than anything, I just wanted to show the world what breaking is all about.”
The competition featured 16 dancers, known as B-Boys, who faced off in a series of battles, beginning with a pool phase before moving on to a knockout round.
Phil Wizard had the crowd against him in the final against local hero Dany Dann, a 36-year-old with blue hair whose real name is Danis Civil.
But the Canadian soon had them eating out of his hand thanks to his incredible routine, for which the judges awarded him a 3-0 victory.
“I was very stressed,” Phil Wizard said.
“It was a whirlwind of emotions. I cried buckets because I was so scared to do this.
“There was a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations. I’m glad I was able to meet them.”
'All about self-expression'
Former European champion Danny Dann said he felt like he had “represented breaking” to the world.
“I’m delighted, I really didn’t think I would win this medal,” he said, revealing that he dyed his hair blue because it was his “lucky colour”.
“I just went there to see how things were going and I'm going home with a silver medal!”
Despite the spectacular moves on display, Phil Wizard said the judging panel was looking for “something new in every round.”
“You might think that it’s the more explosive, crazy, dynamic moves that score the most points,” he said.
“But in breaking there are many different categories and the most important thing is the originality and diversity of the movement.”
B-Boys perform on a circular stage, accompanied by DJs playing hip-hop classics and MCs who get the crowd going.
Breaking has its origins in the street parties held in the Bronx, New York in the 1970s.
B-Boy Victor, also known as Victor Montalvo, said the competition represented “the true essence of hip hop and breaking culture.”
“We just want to make sure we show everyone that it's a dance, first and foremost,” said Victor, who beat Japan's Shigekix for the bronze medal.
“It’s all about self-expression, it’s all about originality. It’s not just about big moves.”
