An American athlete who quit her day job to compete in professional breakdancing is heading to the Olympics.
Imagine quitting your corporate job to chase your athletic passion, transforming a routine life into an extraordinary journey. The thrill of daily training, the satisfaction of mastering new skills, and the camaraderie of fellow athletes would become your new norm.
Breakdancing, also known as breaking, was officially added to the Olympic program for the first time in December 2020. It is set to debut at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The inclusion of breakdancing is part of the International Olympic Committee’s efforts to modernize the Olympic Games and attract a younger audience by incorporating more urban and youth-oriented sports.
Here’s some of what Fox News reported about Choi’s success:
Sunny Choi will be among the athletes on Team USA’s first Olympic breakdancing team headed to Paris later this summer.
The 35-year-old Tennessee native is unlike most Olympians.
Choi was a gymnast growing up and committed to a Division 1 school to compete in gymnastics, but she was forced out due to knee injuries. Trying to just stay active while attending the University of Pennsylvania, Choi came upon a few people who were breakdancing on campus. She was signed up by a few recruiters looking for more participants in their club, and it stuck from there.
“Initially, it was just being upside down and the physical challenges of breaking that I really fell in love with, but what really kept me was the community and the creative aspect, and it challenged me in ways that I wasn’t challenged in the rest of my life and I felt like I was really growing a lot through it,” Choi told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.