Canada’s Philip Kim danced his way to history.
Kim, whose stage name is Phil Wizard, won the first ever gold medal in men’s Olympic breaking by defeating France’s Danis Civil 23-4 in the final battle on Saturday.
Kim’s win was the ninth Canadian gold medal in Paris and brings Canada’s Olympic medal total to 27. The 27 medals set a national record for a non-boycotted Summer Games. Canada won 24 medals three years ago in Tokyo.
“Honestly I really don’t believe it,” Kim said to CBC Olympics after winning gold. “The people that I battled today were some of the best in the world. I didn’t think I would make it this far.
“I still have self-doubt every single day. Yesterday I cried because I was so scared about doing this. And so, it means a lot.”
Kim seemed to be living it up in the final with ‘Civil’ in front of a pro French crowd. He even gave the fans an unofficial fourth round after the result of the final was announced. Wowing the crowd with more of his signature moves.
“My goal today truly wasn’t to win, it was just to enjoy myself on stage and I felt like a really accomplished that,” Kim said to CBC Olympics. “That’s what I’m proud of.”
Victor Montalvo of the United States won the bronze medal.
Kim advanced to the gold-medal battle of the competition after defeating Japan’s Shigeyuki Nakarai 17-10 in the semifinals earlier Saturday. Nakarai and Kim were the top two seeds in the contest.
Kim advanced to the semifinals after defeating Lee-Lou Demierre of the Netherlands 19-8 in the quarterfinals.
Kim won all three of his battles in the round robin of the B-Boys breaking competition to advance to the quarterfinals in an event making its Olympic debut.
The 27-year-old breaker beat Civil 13-5 in his opening battle. He then won 10-8 in a tight contest over Ukraine’s Oleg Kuznietsov and finished with a dominant 17-1 win over Australia’s 16-year-old breaker Jeffrey Dan Arpie Dunne.
Each of the 16 competitors competed in two battles against the three other breakers in their group in the round robin. The breakers receive marks for technique, vocabulary (the variety of moves incorporated), execution, musicality and originality.
Instead of scoring each criteria, the nine judges use a digital slider that they slide towards the breaker who they believe is winning the head-to-head matchup. There are a total of 18 points (one point per judge per battle) up for grabs over each head-to-head matchup. In the quarterfinals, semifinals and final there are a total of three rounds with 27 points up for grabs.
Kim, a Vancouver native, won the first gold medal in B-Boys breaking competition at the Pan American Games in 2023.
He also won Canada’s first world title in breaking at the 2022 World DanceSport Federation championships. Kim finished second at the championships in 2021 and 2023.
Breaking is making its Olympic debut in Paris. It will not be a sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Ami Yuasa of Japan won the first ever breaking Olympic gold medal in the B-Girls competition on Friday.
