Olympic breaking champion Phil Wizard hasn’t stopped moving since Paris triumph

Canada's Philip "Phil Wizard" Kim, of Vancouver, B.C., reacts after the breaking final during the Summer Olympics in Paris, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. Kim took gold in the first Olympic men's breaking tournament Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Philip Kim hasn’t really stopped moving since winning a gold medal in breaking at the Paris Olympics last summer.

Recent stops have included Los Angeles, Denver, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Turkey as well as events across Canada. On Saturday, he will be in Montreal for the Red Bull BC One National Final with the winner moving a step closer to representing Canada at the Red Bull BC One World Final in Tokyo.

“To be completely honest, it’s been non-stop since the Olympics,” Kim, known as B-Boy Phil Wizard when competing, said in an interview. “Obviously some time at home (in Vancouver) here and there but never more than a week.”

The 28-year-old estimates he has spent just seven or eight days at home this year.

“A lot of blessings. I can’t really complain, but it has been a lot too,” he said of his schedule.

Kim is not competing in Montreal — he will likely compete in Tokyo via a wild card — but as a Red Bull-sponsored athlete is there to support the event and the competitors.

Winning gold has only added to Kim’s responsibilities to sponsors such as Red Bull, Lululemon, Toyota, Visa, RBC and Sobeys, from speaking engagements to performances.

In Berlin, for example, he taught three workshops and judged an event.

“It’s been kind of similar to what my life was like prior to (the Olympics) but a lot more,” he said. “But there are definitely some significant changes as well. The recognition has been really interesting, especially within Canada.

“As a breaker, I’m used to being recognized within in my community but never outside of it. But there’s a lot more of that just walking on the street, especially in Canada and especially right after the Olympics. Definitely less now but it still happens.”

The recognition is still a “bit weird,” he confesses.

But he says people are always gracious and it’s gratifying to be recognized for all the hard work.

A former world champion, Kim made history in Paris when he won the first-ever Olympic breaking competition in dominant fashion over France’s Danis (Dany Dann) Civil, winning all three rounds and taking 23 of a possible 27 judges’ votes.

“The biggest thing for me was that I had a lot of my close family and friends around me during that time, that came to support me,” Kim said. “And I don’t think I could have done it without them.”

His mother had only seen him compete live once before while his father and brothers had never seen him in action before Paris.

The sport of breaking sees competitors go head to head in short bursts of breakdancing to a DJ’s soundtrack as judges look on. Competitors start by dancing, before going to ground to execute a dizzying array of gravity-defying moves.

The Olympics had 16 men and 16 women competing in one-on-one battles.

Kim may be the only Olympic breaking champion, with the 2028 Games in Los Angeles electing not to showcase the sport.

“It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I definitely made the best of it,” he said.

Kim says while Paris offered his sport a boost in exposure, it was both positive and negative.

Australian breaker Rachael (Raygun) Gunn made headlines with her unconventional performance in Paris. While the Oceania champion, her performance was mocked online and on television.

“I think no one should be treated that way,” said Kim. “The amount of bullying and hate that she got is not something any person should have to go through. But at the same time, I don’t think her performance was good at all.”

Kim says it showed that the qualification system needs improvement.

“Because you definitely want the top talent on that stage. I think for the most part it was, but you had a couple of people that maybe shouldn’t have been there.”

As a result, controversy overtook competition.

Since the Olympics, Kim has “definitely eased off the gas a little bit” when it comes to competing.

Fame and competition wins were never his goal, he said. Instead he just wanted to be able to live off breaking and develop his craft.

“I get to do more than now, to help my parents and different things now,” he added.

His drive comes from “the love of the art form and the craft of it” rather than competition, he said.

Kim has focused recently on team events, which allow him to dance with friends and other Red Bull athletes. But he has his eye on competing solo at the Red Bull BC One World Final in November in Tokyo.

That event is dear to him, given as a kid he used to wake up early to watch the live stream of the competition from wherever it was around the world.

“That was my Olympics. That was my Super Bowl,” he said.

The Montreal winner advances to a final qualifier in Tokyo on the eve of the event, with the top four making the final field alongside 12 wild-card entries.

This report by Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press, was first published April 25, 2025,