Veteran B-boy Hongten was knocked out of the group stage at the inaugural Olympic breaking competition in Paris on Saturday. Hongten, whose legal name is Kim Hong-yul, finished third in Group C of the B-boys competition at La Concorde 1 in the French capital. After round-robin battles, only the top two from each of the four groups advanced to the quarterfinals. Hongten opened with a 2-0 (7-2, 6-3) loss to Lee of the Netherlands. He split two rounds against Lagaet of France. He needed to win both rounds against Jeffro of the United States but ended up just taking one round. Jeffro won the group by winning five rounds, while Lee was second after winning four rounds. For each round, a panel of nine judges evaluated performances on five criteria: vocabulary, technique, execution, originality and musicality. Vocabulary refers to moves performed by B-boys on the floor. Technique looks at athleticism and body control. For execution, judges look at sharpness of moves. B-boys were also rewarded for their origin ality. For musicality, judges considered how well the performers understood the rhythm of breaking music, among other things. In his three matches, Hongten scored well in vocabulary and originality, but not always so in execution and musicality. Hongten, 39, is one of the most accomplished South Korean B-boys. He won silver at last year's Asian Games. Breaking made its Olympic debut here but will not be contested at the next Olympics in 2028. Hongten, the oldest B-boy in Paris, said he had a mixed bag of emotions after getting sent packing so early. "I wanted to go a little deeper into the tournament. I wanted to get to the quarterfinals at least," he said. "At the same time, I've been working so hard for this for over a year, and now that it's over, I feel liberated." The pressure of an Olympic competition got to even a season performer like Hongten. "I haven't had to deal with nerves recently, and so I figured it wouldn't be any different here. But I ended up getting nervous," he said. "The Eiffel To wer in the background looked really nice. And that only added to my nerves." Hongten said that when he first got into dancing, he never thought he would travel to another country for an Olympic Games. "I know nothing about sports, and I am not really familiar with the Olympics. And it felt a little odd to be going to the Olympics," he said. "If this were a medal event at the next Olympics, we would have a new generation of dancers trying to qualify. It's a shame that won't be the case." Hongten, who will turn 40 in December, said he feels his dancing career is "nearing the final chapter." "I may be old, but I am very fit. I am confident I am as well conditioned as anyone," he said. "But I didn't have quite the energy that younger athletes had here. Those guys are getting better and better. I have to work hard just to stay at my level." He added that South Korea is lagging behind other countries in young dancing talent and will have some catching up to do. "I hope more people will take interest in dancin g so that we'll have more young performers," he said. "Hopefully, they will have a chance to take revenge for me." Source: Yonhap News Agency
