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What Was the First-Ever Olympics ‘Let’s Move Street Challenge’? Exploring Winner Reveal and What Lies Ahead for the Champions

Published 11/14/2023, 5:24 AM EST

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The Olympic Games in the Summer make for a scintillating spectacle every four years. With the Olympics returning in the modern era to the City of Light once more, one can safely expect that to be the case again. In the lead-up to Paris 2024, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held a digital competition for up-and-coming BMX freestylers, breakers, and skateboarders. Each participant had to send in a 30-second long video submission of themselves performing tricks or skills in each of the aforementioned disciplines. It all culminated in an epic showdown of flair and skills.

The winners of the first-ever Let’s Move Street Challenge Awards Show were announced on Sunday, November 12. In association with Samsung, the awards honored 21 athletes across the three disciplines mentioned. A panel of revered judges cherry picked the winners from over 3,000 submissions. There were also three awards for the fan favorites in each discipline. For that alone, the votes from the fans counted. This also, surprisingly enough, turned out to be a sneak peek for the games next year.

Six winners of the first Street Challenge Awards unveiled ahead of the Olympics

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On their social media handles, the IOC shared the clips submitted by the three Creative and the three fan-favorite award winners. The caption on X read thus, THE STREET IS THEIR PLAYGROUND! Introducing the first-ever #StreetChallenge Creative Award winners and the fan-favorite videos – voted for by YOU!” In addition, there were the hashtags #LetsMove #Samsung #Olympics #Creative. On Instagram, the IOC tagged each of the winning performers and added their congratulations.

In the creative awards, BMX freestyler Jonatan Mineiro won the Street Culture award. Breaker Maxime Castellon won the Best Produced award. Skateboarder Balthazar Higor Cruz won the Most Surprising award. Akram Alnuaimy, Haruki Aka Shoma, and Valentin Zaragoza won the fan-favorite awards in BMX freestyle, breaking, and skateboarding. The IOC singled out these six performers via these posts. Aside from the recognition and the accompanying prestige, there were other prizes awaiting the winners. They all showcased their forte with such elan and grace that they get to be a part of the opulence of the Olympic qualifiers event.

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Prizes include a chance to attend the Olympic qualifiers

There were many exclusive prizes up for grabs for the winners. It included a chance to be a VIP guest for the Olympic Qualifier Series Event in May 2024. That is part one of the series, which will take place in Shanghai between May 16 to 19. The second part features a trip to Budapest between June 20 and 23. Moreover, the prize winners also get to go backstage and meet the crème de la crème in the disciplines contested. At these two locations, aside from BMX freestyle, breaking, and skateboarding, sport climbing will form part of the itinerary.

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Many athletes are vying to target a quota for the Paris Olympics. It is not just the young wunderkinds, either. For instance, 64-year-old skateboarder Judi Oyama will be one of those looking to make it to the City of Light. All the disciplines mentioned have not been part of the Olympic family for that long. In fact, breaking is yet to make its Olympic debut. The others are all only one Olympic Games old, having made their debuts in Tokyo. It remains to be seen how much of a phenomenon and a profusion of talent and colors the Paris Olympics will be.

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Written by:

Anirudh Haridas

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I am Anirudh Haridas and I am a US Sports Writer at EssentiallySports. As a stalwart ice hockey fan, I delved into the US Sports arena, driven by the phenomenal pace of the sport. From creating insights on various Olympic avenues like surfing and swimming to covering stories around equestrian and rodeo sports, I bring versatility to my writing.
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Edited by:

Himanshu Sridhar