Chinese breakdancer Shang Xiaoyu, who is known as "X-Rain" in the circle, has made B-Boy top eight in the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) Breaking for Gold (BfG) World Series in Montpellier, France, this week, achieving a breakthrough for Chinese B-Boys.

This result gave Shang more confidence in getting qualification for the men's breaking event in the Paris Olympics in 2024.

When breaking was about to make its debut in the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018, Shang uploaded a clip of his performance for first audition of Team China. As the only Chinese breaker in that edition of Youth Olympics, he finished as one of the top eight.

"It will be incredible if breaking becomes an Olympic event one day. I will work hard and get ready for it," Shang said back then.

Having performed in a series of international and domestic tournaments since then, Shang became an official member of the first Chinese men's national breaking team in early 2023.

"Too much has happened in these years. I feel I have always been the lucky one," Shang said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. "I am never the most talented one of the team. I had five teammates at the beginning. It took them two to three days to learn a move, but took me a week to do it. They are all more talented than I am."

"But I'm definitely the most hard-working one. I'm the only dancer still in the team from back then. I have seen too many talented dancers who fail to develop well because they rely too much on their gifts," he added.

Shang's compatriot Liu Qingyi, who is known as "671," won the B-Girl gold medal in Montpellier. She was the silver medalist in the World Breaking Championship and pocketed two golds and one silver in the three WDSF BfG World Series stops so far this year. She is considered as a major candidate for the women's breaking champion in Paris 2024.

Shang said Liu's success gives him no pressure but only motivation to work harder. He was the first one to hug Liu after she won the title in Montpellier. While Liu was standing on the podium, Shang and his teammates were singing China's national anthem.

"Liu showed us that Chinese dancers are able to stand on the podium. We will learn from her," Shang told Xinhua. "I believe that the men's team can do it one day. We need to work harder to make it happen sooner."

A total of 16 B-Boys and B-Girls will qualify for the Paris Olympics. It won't be an easy task for Shang and his teammates, but he believes he can do it.

"Someone has to be the first one to do it. We have achieved much progress in the past year. It used to be very easy for the world's top dancers to beat us, but not anymore. They need to take us more seriously now," Shang said in the interview.

(Second photo: Liu Qingyi of China performs in the World DanceSport Federation Breaking for Gold World Series in Montpellier, France, May 17, 2023. /Xinhua News Agency)