Hear Raygun apologize to breakdance community after controversial performance

(CNN) — Australian breaker Rachael Gunn, the Olympian widely known as B-Girl Raygun who went viral after her performance at the Paris Games, is now ranked the No. 1 breaker in the world.

The 37-year-old claimed the top spot in the latest women’s rankings released by the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) – the governing body of breaking and other dancesports.

Raygun’s performances failed to score any points across her Olympic battles against breakers from the United States, France and Lithuania in August, losing 18-0 in all three rounds.

However, she won the gold medal at the 2023 WDSF Oceania Championships, securing her 1,000 ranking points and vaulting her up to No. 1 – level on points with world No. 2 B-Girl Riko of Japan – ahead of the breakers who defeated her in the French capital. Her victory at the Oceania Championships also secured her a spot in Paris.

In an odd twist, none of the Olympic B-Girl medalists are ranked inside the top 10. Japan’s Ami, Lithuania’s Nicka and China’s 671 earned gold, silver and bronze respectively.

In a statement, the WDSF on Tuesday clarified that its rankings are updated based on each athlete’s top four performances within the past 12 months. Points earned in these competitions remain valid for 52 weeks from the date of the event.

The governing body also confirmed that the Olympic qualifying events in Shanghai and Budapest, as well as the Paris Games themselves, did not contribute to the ranking list due to limited athlete quotas. Additionally, WDSF said that events which traditionally give ranking points were not held to allow competitors to fully focus on preparation for the Games.

“In alignment with the Olympic Qualification System, ranking events were intentionally not held between 31 December 2023 and the Olympic Games Paris 2024. This strategic scheduling allowed athletes to focus solely on the last part of their Olympic qualification without the added pressure of additional ranking events.

“By the end of the Olympic Games, many of the competition results included in the ranking had expired, leading to the current situation where many athletes have only one competition result contributing to their ranking.”

It added that the current rankings should be looked at “in conjunction” with more recent results and that the list will change when the next batch of 12-month points expire and the Breaking for Gold World Series is held in Shanghai in October.

Raygun shot to fame after her unique routine at the Olympics drew the world’s attention.
Dressed in the green and gold tracksuit of Australia, she displayed some unorthodox moves, including a kangaroo hop, a backward roll and various contortions with her body while lying or crawling on the floor.

She received criticism online for her performance, with one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling her routines “hilariously ridiculous,” and another questioning how she had made it this far.

Celebrities took notice as well – singer Adele took time out of her concert in Munich to ask whether the whole thing was a “joke,” while actress Rachel Dratch imitated some of the moves on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Raygun – who is a university lecturer by day – recently apologized to the breaking community, saying that she was “very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced” after her performance. She has been defended by some within the sport.

“It’s all about originality and it’s all about bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” said Martin Gilian, the chief breaking judge at the Olympics, also known as MGbility.

“She created some original moves which could be maybe funny or entertaining for others, but for us, she basically represented breaking and hip hop. She was trying to be original and bring something new to the table. From our perspective, that was nothing really shocking.”

Raygun described the online reaction as “devastating” but has remained upbeat about the entire experience.

“I knew that I was going to get beaten, and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was going to do,” she said in an interview with Australian current affairs show The Project. “The odds were against me, that’s for sure.”

“I would much rather focus on the positives out of this, and the positive responses and the joy that I brought people,” she said. “It’s going out there and just having fun and going as hard as you can in the face of, you know, losing.”

Breaking made its Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games but will not feature in Los Angeles in 2028.

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