A chance encounter during a drunken night out was the unlikely catalyst for breakdancer Sunny Choi’s journey to the Olympic Games.

The 35-year-old American will showcase her skills before a global audience in Paris when breaking makes its debut on the Olympic stage.

Choi is the beneficiary of efforts to attract younger fans to the Olympics, a move which led to breaking’s inclusion for the first time.

But as Choi freely admits, the Olympics was the last thing on her mind when she took up the sport.

A freshman student at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business, Choi stumbled into breaking by accident.

“When I got to college I was pretty lost and I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she recalled. “One night I was out late, and I was drunk. And there were some people 커뮤니티 dancing on campus and I was like ‘Oh that looks fun’.”

Choi, who had previously pursued gymnastics, subsequently attended her first breaking class and realized she had found her vocation.

“They had me try some stuff, like going upside down, and I was like ‘Oh, I love being upside down.’ This is great.

“Over time I fell in love with exploring my body’s physical limits and artistic expression. Because I’d never done anything creative in my life before.”

What began as a hobby soon became a competitive pastime.

“I’m one of those people who’s like, you either go all in or nothing,” Choi said. “Next thing I knew I’m like at a World Championships. And then they announced breaking was in the Olympics.”