From injury prevention to standardized scoring: a bibliometric analysis of thematic evolution and emerging trends in the development of the breakdance competition system (1984-2026).

When Breaking successfully debuted at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France, it attracted strong attention from the academic community toward this emerging competitive sport. Given that Breaking is a newly included Olympic sport that urgently requires development and remains controversial, this review

Aims: to conduct a quantitative analysis of the academic research achievements related to the construction of the Breaking competition system over the past more than 40 years. The researchers selected literature from the Web of Science Core Collection and the Scopus database from 1984 to 2026 as data sources and conducted bibliometric and visualization analyses using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and R Bibliometrix. Meanwhile, analyses were carried out on core journals, core research teams, research countries, hot keywords, as well as the development process and development trends. The

Results: showed that the research field of the Breaking competition system is developing vigorously. The

Findings: are as follows: (1) The United States leads the world by a large margin in the number of publications, while the United Kingdom and Canada rank next in academic influence; several research groups have formed among the core authors, with Yang, Wyon, and Miura being typical examples. It is worth noting that Sato published the largest number of papers over the longest period of time. Among research institutions, the University of Tokyo in Japan has published the largest number of studies, while Dance Research Journal has the greatest influence and the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science has the highest output. Among the journal research areas related to this topic, "MEDICINE, MEDICAL, CLINICAL" and "PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATION, HEALTH" occupy the frontier of research fields, while "NEUROLOGY, SPORT, OPHTHALMOLOGY" have become the most influential research pathways. (2) This field has experienced three stages of development, namely the spontaneous research phase, the initial development phase, and the Olympic-oriented standardization construction phase, mainly focusing on four areas: terminology origins, medical support, rule framework, and competitive psychology and social adaptation. (3) "Case report" is the longest-lasting research hotspot, while "hip hop" has become the most cutting-edge hotspot keyword. Based on existing studies, future research should develop toward three directions: rule quantification, judging consistency, and cultural and competitive synergy. This review provides scholars in the field of Breaking competition system research with a clear knowledge map and offers theoretical support for policymakers of Breaking competitions to formulate more scientific decisions.