KEVIN McCALLUM: Breakdancers can throw Olympic-sized party, but it’s checkmate for chess
Sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing are also to be put forward as additional sports for 2024, but squash and snooker are out too
The big breaking Olympic news this week was that breakdancing, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing are to be put forward as additional sports at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The local organising committee announced this at a media conference, thus crushing the hearts of squash players the world over, as well as fans of snooker and chess, who had also been lobbying hard to be included. Alas, there was to be no luck for them. The Olympics, an event that breaks the bank, decided that a dance that breaks will be a lot more fun. There will also be no baseball, softball or karate, though they will get their chance in Japan 2020 before being thanked and sent on their way. The Olympics are the breaking games. They break sports, budgets, cities and ethics. Hosts go into them with the best of motives — to leave a legacy and uplift their city. On Monday the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, said she believes 2020 could “usher in a new Tokyo” and leave behind a legacy that will echo that of...
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