Victor Montalvo, also known as B-Boy Victor, has a wealth of titles under his belt. Most recently, the 30-year-old Floridian earned his biggest win yet: a bronze medal in the men’s breakfast at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where he represented Team USA.

Victor’s team invited me to meet him after this significant success and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask him about the Olympics, his personal breaking style and his next plans.

Insights into the Olympic experience

On his way to the bronze medal, Victor fought his way to the top of Group A in the round robin, then beat Kazakhstan’s Amir in the quarterfinals, lost to French favorite Dany Dann in the semifinals and finally triumphed over Japan’s Shigekix in the battle for third place.

While the fans in the stands were on tenterhooks during the final fight, Victor was the one who gave it his all: “I felt great, I stood on the stage and thought, ‘this floor belongs to me’. I gave it my all and you can see it in my face, you can see it in my dance. This is my only chance to redeem myself.”

Interestingly, Victor’s favorite fight wasn’t the one that earned him an Olympic medal. It was his quarterfinal fight with Amir where he felt he gave it his best. In round one, backing out of a power combination to pull off a freeze sequence and then throwing a passionate fist to the sky was all the proof we needed. As a breaker, sharing his new creations and executing them to perfection is one of the greatest rewards for the hard work it takes.

Attentive viewers may have noticed that Victor brought his phone with him on stage. This is where he keeps his list of moves, and although he couldn’t show them all, he was happy to create spontaneous moments. A breaker’s pants not only have to have pockets for phones, but also be stylish and easy to move. Victor says he was thrilled with his choice for the Olympics: white, lightweight nylon pants from Korean fashion brand CARNET-ARCHIVE.

The “Victor Style” and what constitutes breaking

Although Victor is soft-spoken, he expresses himself through his dancing with intensity and clarity. He describes his approach as focusing on form and details: “Where your hands are placed, because that’s super important to me. You can’t drag your feet while you’re dancing and look all sloppy.” Despite this emphasis on the little things, Victor’s repertoire is full of crowd-pleasers that have personalized names like “Twirl,” “Compass,” or “Super Montalvo.”

No matter where he competes, the experienced breaker is always looking for “those little moments where you just switch off and don’t remember what you did, but then you stand up and see the crowd going crazy… And those moments are the most exciting for me. It’s like you had a plan, but then that plan just falls apart and you reach a level where only your body takes control. The music takes over.”

Victor has some advice for aspiring breakers looking for those moments of pure expression and satisfaction. In his words: “Do every move with conviction. Believe in your moves. Believe in yourself. Because that then translates to the crowd, you know… Enjoy the moment.”

Another key to success is understanding the fundamentals of the dance and culture. “If you understand the fundamentals, you can take them anywhere. It’s like learning the rules to then break them.” Some references to start with, according to Victor, are K-Mel, Flea Rock, Rock Steady Crew and Roxrite.

What’s next for the bronze medalist?

What’s Victor’s next step after returning home with an Olympic medal? First of all, he’s looking forward to enjoying breakdancing again – “doing it for the love,” as he puts it, to get back to the reason he started dancing in the first place. Other things on the list include Muay Thai training in Thailand and perhaps enrolling in pilot school. Whatever he sets out to do, Victor is sure to bring his tenacity and eye for detail to this new endeavor.

Although breakdancing will unfortunately not be part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, there are many opportunities for those who want to experience breakdancing live and in person. For example, the Red Bull BC One National USA Cypher will take place on September 28th in Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Other events, even at a local level, are often promoted on Facebook, Instagram, etc.