OLYMPICS SPOTLIGHT: World Champion breaker, Victor Montalvo, tells DailyMail.com why sports fans need to give 'art form' of breaking a chance on debut... but reveals he didn't know how big the Games were!

The Olympics are now just 17 weeks away, and Mail Sport is looking ahead to the Paris Games with a series of interviews, flashbacks and deep dives.

Breaking's inclusion at the 2024 Paris Olympics has raised eyebrows among some spectators and even the sport's World Champion admits he was left surprised.

Breakdancing may be a fledgling art form that emerged from the South Bronx of the mid-1970s, but Victor Montalvo believes all away across the Atlantic it's about to take the sporting world by storm, if fans are willing to give it a chance. 

The Olympics are set to put breaking on the global stage when it makes its debut this summer and Montalvo, the reigning world champion is relishing the spotlight of Paris - even if he wasn't aware just how big the Games are. 

'I was surprised that breaking was gonna be in the Olympics,' the 29-year-old, who competes as 'B-Boy Victor,' tells Mail Sport at Red Bull's New York offices. 

Team USA breaker Victor Montalvo sat down with DailyMail.com to discuss the Olympics

Montalvo, the reigning world champion, is ready to relish the spotlight of Paris 

The 29-year-old qualified by winning Gold at the WDSF World Breaking Championship 2023

'I never really watched the Olympics. I didn't know how big it was, until I started speaking to other Olympians.' 

The breaker, who is also a two-time champion of Red Bull BC One, is of course eyeing Gold to back up his medal at the World Championships last year, but he believes he and the sport as a whole have just as much to offer the Games. 

'It's just gonna bring a whole different vibe, because it's bringing the hip hop culture to the Olympics,' the Red Bull athlete says. 

'I just want a newer generation to watch this sport, this dance, and get into it, because you don't need much, you just need a dance floor and yourself and self-expression. That's it. 

'I want fans to know is that breaking is not just about moves, it's about movement. It is an art form, while it can also be a sport.

'I just want them to know that the true essence of breaking is all about being creative, original, and also being to the music and bringing like your own creative mentality into this dance. So it's like an art to me.'

Breaking found its beginnings on the streets of New York City in the 1970s but has evolved into a proper dance sport, with a fixed set of rules for fair competition. 

While breakdancing is now ready to make the leap to the grand stage of the Olympics, Montalvo hopes the sport remembers its origins and that the IOC brings the cultural elements of hip hop - the emceeing, the DJing, the graffiti, the breaking - to the Parisian block party. 

At the Games, the athletes will compete in individual male and female events with the breakers going head to head in spectacular solo battles to impress the judges with each breaker taking two or three alternate turns - or 'throw downs.'

The breaker from Kissimmee, Florida is also a two-time champion of Red Bull BC One

Montalvo believes that breakdancing is not only a sporting event but also an art form 

Breakers will be judged on creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality.

But Montalvo explains that to truly best your opponent you must bring your own flair. 

'First of all, you have to have your own original style and your own creativity,' he says. 'Then you have to stay strong from beginning to end.' 

And each breaker appears to have a different approach to bringing their unique style to the floor with Montalvo explaining he has a few signature moves up his sleeve to combine with spontaneity. 

'I'm 50 percent structured and 50 percent improvised,' he adds, explaining his own preparation process. 

'I make sure that I have three signatures per round but at the same time, I'm also ready to have a Plan B or Plan C because you never know what's gonna happen.

'You have to find a quick way to adapt and improvise right in the moment. And that's something I love about breaking because it's so challenging.'

And Montalvo's own set of signatures features his own self-titled move: The Supa Montalvo. 

Montalvo explains that to truly best your opponent you must bring your own flair

He revealed that he always has a set of signature moves up his sleeve heading into battle 

'My friend named it. I just did it randomly out of practice. And ever since they just call it a Supa Montalvo. So just to me, like spinning on the one hand or on like on a W form, or freeze spin.' 

It seems like a foreign language to those who have no concept of the breaking jargon but spectators needn't have an grasp of the sport to be left impressed at seeing the move executed. Yet, they probably don't realize the level of physical conditioning that goes into being able to achieve it. 

Breaking requires a combination of muscle memory, flexibility, strength and momentum, according to Montalvo, which he achieves through calisthenics, running, biking and, most importantly, dancing at least once a day. 

But his most unusual pre-competition ritual comes just as he's about to step on to the dancefloor as Montalvo reveals there's one person that gets him in the right mindset. 

'I love watching a James Brown concert,' he admits. 'I don't know why. It just loosens me up. Just the way he's dancing, it's like, "Man, I want to be like that at the battle." So when I watch him, I'm like, "Okay, that's what I'm gonna do at the battle just to enjoy myself.'''

James Brown aside, Montalvo's true inspiration is his dad. He was introduced to breaking by his father, Victor Bermudez, and uncle, Hector, who have been described as 'breaking pioneers,' as they helped grow the sport in Mexico since the late 1980s. 

His dad supported Montalvo's dreams, making sacrifices to ensure they came true - even if it meant going against the rest of the family.  

Montalvo reveals some relatives discouraging him from traveling internationally and  pursuing the sport. He recalls getting the chance to compete at an event in Amsterdam but his mom's side of the family were adamant he couldn't attend. 

Montalvo performs at the World Urban Games in Budapest, Hungary back in 2019 

Montalvo poses with his sign on the Sunset Strip during the Team USA Road to Paris Bus Tour

'My dad was the only one that was being super supportive,' he says. 'For me, it was crushing my dreams. This was a dream of mine and I had the chance to do it.

'Basically, my dad said you're gonna go and he got money from my grandpa, because he didn't have enough money to get a passport. So he got me a passport and I went to the event. 

'After that event, I just started flying out everywhere. It just became a career naturally.' 

Now though, they'll all be cheering him on in Paris. 

'They're so proud,' he insists when asked what his family think of his passion now. 'So proud. They honestly didn't know it was going to become this big or that I was going to make a career out of it. 

'My mom was like, "What's this dancing? Like, you're not going to make a career out of this, you're not going to make any money." Now, I'm doing really well.'