'Breakdancing is my passion, my job - my identity!'

Roxy Milliner, 33, from Streatham, South London, has overcome huge challenges and hopes to make it to the 2024 Olympics

-  JOSIE COPSON

When I proudly inform people that I’m a professional, competitive breakdancer, I often get the reaction, “Didn’t that style of dancing die out after the 80s?”

I have to suppress an eye-roll. You can imagine their faces when I tell them I might be competing with Team GB at the Paris Olympics next year.

After making its debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, breakdancing finally became an official Olympic sport in 2020. I’m so excited it’s getting the recognition it deserves – it’s been a long time coming for all of us involved in this crazy world.

Unfortunately, the news broke at the worst possible time for me. After a 15-year career as a breaker, I was at the top of my game. Then, I got pregnant with my son, Leo, who’s now two, and I injured my stomach muscles doing a breaking move. I was already weak from morning sickness and that small movement tore my pelvic floor muscle.

As a result, I became reliant on a wheelchair during my pregnancy. To go from being so active to barely able to walk totally broke me. I felt like my life was stripped of joy.

I thought, “Will I ever recover my strength and make it in breakdancing again?”

I also had to find the energy to be a carer for my mum, who has heart and kidney problems. This was during the Covid-19 lockdowns, so as a vulnerable person she needed me to move in with her.

My partner, who I later split from, wasn’t able to see me as he was a carer for his nan. It wasn’t a good time and I wondered how I’d ever rebuild my life, never mind become an Olympian. I didn’t feel very supported by other breakers, as not many people understood what having a baby meant for me.