Canadian breaking champion Phil Wizard laments move away from sport at 2028 Olympics

Former world champion Phil Wizard says the move to drop breaking from the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles is disappointing, especially before the sport debuts at next year's Paris Games.

Each host city, under International Olympic Committee rules, can request the inclusion of several sports for its edition of the Games. There is no guarantee they will stick, however.

Surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing debuted in Tokyo in 2021 and remain on the schedule. But it appears breaking, better known as breakdancing, is falling off the Olympic agenda after Paris.

Organizers of the 2028 Games want cricket, flag football, lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball added to the event.

"It's disappointing especially because the decision is made prior to seeing the results of breaking in Paris," Wizard said. "It makes me a bit sad because I do have complete confidence that breaking will blow up in Paris and people will fall in love with it."

WATCH | Wizard among favourite to reach Olympic podium:

The new L.A. sports were reviewed by the Olympic Program Commission (OPC) before being put forward to the IOC executive board, which added its approval on Friday in Mumbai, India, leaving one last hurdle to seal their Olympic spots.

The IOC session, which starts Sunday, is expected to rubber-stamp the board's recommendation.

Wizard, whose birth name is Philip Kim, also noted that the U.S. is the "birthplace of breaking."

"We'll just focus in performing well in Paris and showing the world that this is what we do," he said. "And that's all we can do.

The 26-year-old Wizard, from Vancouver, won the 2022 WDSF World Breaking Championships in Seoul. He was runner-up to American Victor Montalvo, known as B-boy Victor, at the recent worlds