Australians "Raygun" and "J Attack" have written
themselves into history as the country's first Olympic
breakdancers by taking out the Oceania Breaking
Championships.

Rachael Gunn and Jeff Dunne will be Australia's first
Olympic breakdancers.   Gunn is a veteran of the
international scene having represented Australia at
the last three World Championships.

Breakdancing will make its Olympic debut at the
Paris Games next year.

The pair took out the solo Bboy and Bgirl categories
at Sydney's Town Hall today to clinch two direct
places at the next year's Olympics.

The inclusion of breaking has come as part of a push
by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over
the past decade to modernise itself and to appeal
more to a youthful audience. The IOC had observed
the average age of audiences for Olympics creeping
up, and decided to open the doors to events such as
surfing, skateboarding, three-on-three basketball,
sport climbing and breaking.

I'm sure the 6th century BCE Greek athletes will be
turning in their graves!

   For us older potential Olympic hopefuls, I'd suggest
   house painting, lawn mowing, car washing, and   
   maybe 10m or 25m walking frame races.

I still await the reintroduction of tug-o-war competitions to the Olympics.