–WDSF Breaking for Gold and C1 BMX UCI Park handed out significant points that will determine the representatives for the Olympic Games

– The first place Breaking winner received 400 points and the BMX winner 200 points

At the last edition of Madrid Urban Sports held from 16 to 18 June in the city of Madrid, there were two sports that the public couldn’t take their eyes off: BMX and breaking. Here we found the best riders and breakers on the international scene, and not by pure chance, but because in these sports valuable points were being handed out with a view to the next Olympics in Paris 2024, and the better the result, the greater the probability of becoming a future Olympic athlete.

Starting with Breaking, the competition was called Breaking For Gold International Series and was under the auspices of the Spanish Dance Sport Federation and WDSF Breaking for Gold. More than 200 Bboys and BGirls challenged each other during the weekend in an OPEN competition that also had multiple lower categories such as Kids, Junior, SUB 21 and BGirl Youth.

In the top male and female categories, first there was a Pre-Selection, then a top 64, top 32, top 16 and finally a top 8 in a very close final that filled the Urban Stage. The lower categories followed this final, guaranteeing the audience a continuous spectacle.

The Breaking For Gold International Series had more participation than expected and a level that surprised everyone present, with appearances for example of the Bboys Victor and Amir, top exponents of Breaking worldwide that although they started late in the Olympic race, as many took advantage of the MUS to get the necessary score to qualify for the OQS.

The points to be obtained for the Olympics depend on the category of the competition; competing in the BfG World Series is not the same as competing in the BfG Challenge Series. The competition that took place at the Mus, the BfG International Series, is an intermediate category of these two, lower than a World Series but higher than a Challenge Series. First place got 400 points, second 300, third 260, fourth 200, fifth 160, sixth 152,… and so it goes on proportionally until the 129th place who got the last 10 points.

A C1 Park circuit took place in BMX, under the auspices of the Real Federación Española de Ciclismo and the UCI (International Cycling Union). Around 80 athletes took part in the different categories: male, female and junior.

Central Park was witness to the most daring acrobatics, flying over ramps up to 4 metres high. These elite athletes put their necks on the line for a place at next year’s Olympic Games.

The UCI C1 category gives points for the international ranking. In any C1 competition, points are distributed to the top 10 finishers, with a scale ranging from 200 points for the first to 10 points for the tenth, similar to Breaking. These points are added to the individual ranking of each rider and then for the Olympics the score of the two best riders of each country is added and from there comes the world ranking by country, which is the one that counts to qualify for the Olympics.

So, Madrid Urban Sports was a crucial stop for those interested in becoming future Olympic athletes, who will continue to give their all until they achieve what for many is the dream of their lives.