From starting blocks to air flairs: Breakdancers changing face of Olympic funding
The addition of extreme sports to the Olympic roster has brought an incredible diversity of athletes under the Sport Australia funding umbrella.
The addition of break dancing to the Paris 2024 Games has shaken up more than just the Olympic program.
Australian sports funding looks vastly different from even a decade ago, with B-boys, skateboarder and freestyle BMX riders now included in future planning along with swimmers, track and field athletes and cyclists.
Teen breaker Jeff Dunne is the youngest of 10 new recipients of a Tier 2 scholarship from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame’s (SAHOF) scholarship and mentoring program.
Dunne, from Casuarina in northern NSW, has been dancing for more than half his 14 years and said he was thrilled when breaking was added to the 2024 program as a new sport.
“I was so happy,” said Dunne, who took up the sport almost eight years ago after watching his sister go to hip hop classes and becoming obsessed with the break dancers in the adjacent class.
“For breaking to get this far to make it to the Olympics is such a big deal for a lot of us.
“I hope I’m there.”
Already the sport has taken Dunne to Europe this year, where he finished ninth in an U18 competition in Slovenia featuring 150 athletes from more than 50 countries, while he was second at last week’s national “Destructive Steps” battle in the open category.
His grant will help with more overseas travel and competition needed to prepare for next year’s Oceania championships that will determine the region’s Olympic representatives.
“It’ll be a huge help,” he said of the SAHOF grant.
“Getting $5000 to use will be such a good help. We’re going to use this to travel overseas for competitions.”
Australia was among the winners from the new sports added to the Tokyo Games program, winning gold in freestyle BMX (Logan Martin) and skateboarding (Keegan Palmer) and bronze in surfing (Owen Wright).
Other Tier 2 recipients include Birmingham Commonwealth Games medallists
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva (gymnastics gold and silver), Yangzi Liu (table tennis bronze) and
Alex Saffy (para-swimming silver) and water polo player Tenealle Fasala, the daughter of former Australian swimming representatives Greg Fasala and Rickie Binning.
Paddle and surf lifesaving specialist Claudia Bailey, Angus Hincksman (para-athletics), Lekeisha Pergoliti (boxing), Cameron Rogers (cycling), and Dylan Soin (sport climbing) round out the 10 recipients.
Sport Australia Hall of Fame scholarship and mentoring program chair Sue Stanley said she was amazed by the calibre of applicants.
“It has been an exciting journey to see past and current scholarship holders compete, especially with the success of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games and most recently the Commonwealth Games,” Stanley said.
“It is a privilege to play a small part in assisting elite young Australian athletes by motivating and inspiring them to achieve their goals.”
TEST LEGEND, HOOPS GREAT MENTORING NEXT GEN STARS
- Erin Smith
Former ASP World Champion surfer Barton Lynch still recalls the day he first met his hero and the impact it had on him as a grommet – now 59, Lynch is honoured to have the chance to do the same for an aspiring Aussie snowboarder.
Lynch will mentor 17-year-old boarder Jesse Parkinson through the Sporting Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring program.
He is one of six sporting legends, including three Olympic gold medallists, an NBA champion, and a cricket great, chosen to mentor the next generation of sporting stars.
The six rising stars will be supported with a $10,000 scholarship to go towards their training and competitions.
Lynch, the 1991 Rip Curl Pro winner and Surfing Hall of Fame member said it was a chance meeting with his hero and surfing legend Terry Richardson that inspired him to stick with the sport.
“I was side of the road hitchhiking as a kid to the Coca Cola Surfabout at Narrabeen,” Lynch said.
“Truth be known truanting school in my uniform. A blue panel van pulls up to give me a ride and I look inside and it is Terry Richardson and he is driving to the Coca Cola Surfabout to surf the heats that day.
“He says ‘where you off to grom?’ and I say ‘I’m going to watch you mate’.
“I drive to Narrabeen with my hero and spend the day with him as he competes and hang out on the sidelines watching him.
“I don’t know how many World Champions are stopping to pick up a hitchhiker on their way to compete – he has been like a father figure to me ever since.
“There has been people in my life who in a non-formal fashion were there for me and it just made all the difference.
“To be able to give a bit of that back now has got me excited.”
Lynch, who know lives in Hawaii, said he had a chance meeting with Parkinson before Covid-19 while snowboarding in Japan.
He said being asked to mentor the teen, who just won gold at the Winter Games NZ in Cardrona at the weekend, was a privilege.
“I’ve been looking at Instagram and footage and all indications are that he is a serious contender,” Lynch said.
“He might even ride himself too hard in the pursuit of perfection to achieve his goals.”
FULL LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS AND MENTORS
– World Cup Hockey bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Claire Colwill, 18, QLD (Nat Cook OAM)
– U21 European Sailing silver medallist and youngest commercial pilot in Australia, Stefan Elliott-Shircore, 19, WA. (Steve Waugh AO)
– Five-time National Javelin Champion and Oceania Junior Record Holder, Mackenzie Mielczarek, 19, VIC (Sharon Buchanan OAM)
– Australian Junior Snowboard Champion, Jesse Parkinson, 17, QLD (Barton Lynch)
– Commonwealth Games gold medallist and dual National Cycling Champion, Alyssa Polites, 19, SA (Leisel Jones OAM)
– Australian Baseball League player and first Australian to receive an invitation to attend the Perfect Game National Showcase in the USA, Max Stagg, 18, SA (Luc Longley AM)
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