Few sporting events are etched in the American psyche as much as the Kentucky Derby — and all of its preceding events.
For a few moments, humble steeds become celebrities, jostling for track position in the hopes of outlasting their competition.
Horses aren't the only ones who bask in the spotlight, however. There are a host of humans who are thrust into the spotlight, from jockeys and trainers to the race starter.
The 2024 iteration of the fillies-only precursor to this year's "Run for the Roses" — the Kentucky Oaks — will be introduced by a growing star in her own right: U.S. Olympic breaker Sunny Choi.
Here's what you need to know about Choi, who is delivering the "Riders Up" call at this year's Kentucky Oaks at Louisville's Churchill Downs.
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Who is Sunny Choi?
Choi, known by her "B-girl" name "Sunny," is a member of Team USA's Olympic breaking roster. A Cookeville, Tennessee, native, Choi didn't grow up breakdancing. Rather, she started during her freshman year of college at Penn, when she joined her university's breakdancing club.
Over the coming few years, Choi developed her craft. She moved to Queens in 2012 and landed a gig as director of global creative operations at Estée Lauder. But Choi couldn't help but keep on pursuing her dream of breaking from one end of the globe to the other.
"What’s so cool about breaking is you get to be authentically you,” Choi said, per Time Magazine. “Nobody dictates who you need to be while you’re dancing.”
In 2019, Choi captured silver at the World Breaking Championships. She continued to participate at the highest level, dovetailing her breaking responsibilities with her work ones. But something had to give. And shortly after finishing second in the 2022 World Games, Choi left Estée Lauder.
She was vindicated for her choice soon after, as she earned her selection to Team USA's inaugural Olympic breaking roster.
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What is breaking?
Breaking refers to the performative art of breakdancing, a rhythmic form of dance that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s among enclaves of African-American and Latino youth in South Bronx.
The dance form-turned-Olympic sport incorporates a number of influences, including the Lindy-hop (a Harlem-based jig from the 1920s), capoeira and, most notably, James Brown.
"There was no mistaking the tough-looking James Brown with his streetwise swagger for the Temptations, whose dance steps were taken from the street but who possessed the sort of supper-club sheen characteristic of crossover Black entertainers," historian Alice Echols wrote in 2008. Brown in particular was noted for his "lack of restraint" when slaloming across the dance floor.
Breaking is defined by its lack of regimentation. It's a largely improvisational routine, furnished with feints, freezes and powermoves.
For much of its early existence, the choreography remained tethered to its South Bronx birthplace. But following the adoption of the art form by popular musicians — including Michael Jackson — breaking entered the mainstream. It has retained its place in the global consciousness in the decades since then.
“Breaking comes from Black and brown communities in the Bronx,” Choi said. “And when it goes to the Olympics, we know these aren’t the ones who are going to get all the money. I think it's our responsibility, as the first breakers who go, to be mindful of this."
Is breaking an Olympic sport?
Breaking will make its Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games. It was included as a sport in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Now it will return to the spotlight, this time as a newly-minted Olympic sport.
While breaking is the only new sport debuting in Paris, it joins 2021 debutantes of skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing among the newest competitions to receive top billing from the International Olympic Committee.
When are the 2024 Paris Olympics?
The 2024 Paris Olympics will take place from Friday, July 26, to Sunday, August 11.
