Olympic breaking debuts and so does Sunny Choi, daughter of University of Tennessee grads. How she went from Cookeville to Paris

Tennessee has eight athletes competing at the Olympics, but only one is competing in the newest sport in the games.

Breaking, first introduced in this year's Paris Olympic games, only has four competitors from the United States competing, and one is a Tennessee native. Sunny Choi, 35, is making her Olympic debut as a breakdancer. Choi is one of two women competing for the United States.

Here is all you need to know about the Tennessee native.

Where is Sunny Choi from?

Choi was born in Cookeville, Tennessee in 1988. Her parents moved to Tennessee from Daegu, South Korea in 1977 to pursue doctorate degrees at the University of Tennessee . Her family moved to Louisville when she was young, and she spent her youth there.

Olympics: How to watch Tennessee native Sunny Choi and Team USA compete in Breaking

When did Sunny Choi start break dancing?

Choi started breakdancing her freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania , according to Team USA. She graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in marketing. Career highlights include winning silver in the 2019 World Urban Games and 2022 World Games, and placing seventh at the 2022 WDSF World Championships. She recently became the first U.S. B-Girl to qualify for the Olympic Games.

How did she do? How Tennessee native Sunny Choi performed in breakdancing at Paris 2024 Olympics

What does Sunny Choi do professionally?

Choi is a professional breakdancer. Before leaping into the breakdancing world, Choi earned a degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. She then rose to the role of the director of global creative operations for Estée Lauder.

Olympics: How many athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics are from Tennessee?

What is breaking?

Breaking, or break dancing, is the newest sport in the Olympic competition. It is part of the new wave of sports that the International Olympic Committee has ushered in as part of a broader effort to appeal to younger fans and add an urban flair to the Summer Games.

When was breaking introduced to the Olympics?

The sport was introduced at the 2024 Paris Olympics and has yet to be included in the initial sports program for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

How is Olympic breaking scored?

At the Olympics, the men’s and women’s breaking competitions will consist of a series of one-on-one battles, with each B-boy or B-girl trying to impress a panel of nine judges by executing various moves. There are multiple rounds per battle, and in each round, competitors will try to land power moves – acrobatic spins, flips and the like – while mixing in what is called “top rocking,” or dance elements performed while upright. They're also judged on criteria such as "musicality" and "vocabulary," which reflect how they interact with the music.

Olympic breaking results

Unfortunately for Team USA, there will be no medals in breaking as both of its B-Girls, Sunny and Logan Edra, known professionally as Logistx, failed to advance past the round-robin stage .

B-Girl Sunny, meanwhile, brought some artistry and character to the stage but simply couldn't match the power moves of some of her competitors. She was eliminated from quarterfinal contention even before her third battle.

B-Girl Logistx ultimately fell victim to a brutal draw, having to go against two of the clear contenders for medals: B-Girl Nicka of Lithuania and B-Girl Syssy of France. Logistx, whose real name is Logan Edra, lost her battle to Nicka, 2-0, and needed to sweep Syssy in her third round — which was always going to be tough, given Syssy's talent and the support of a hometown crowd. They ended up splitting the two rounds, leaving Logistx just short of the top eight.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Olympic breaking debuts and so does Sunny Choi, daughter of University of Tennessee grads. How she went from Cookeville to Paris