(Sydney) Australian breakdancer “Raygun”, mocked after her performance at the Paris Olympics, has been crowned world number one, the sport’s governing body confirmed on Wednesday.
Her performance, a kangaroo imitation, was parodied on talk shows, and her Australian-coloured tracksuit was mocked on social media as breakdancing fans around the world wondered how she had been selected.
Rachael Gunn, 37, has now got her revenge after being eliminated in the qualifying rounds without collecting a single point: she has been named the best break dancer in the world by the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF).
The ranking is based on the athlete’s four best performances over the past 12 months, the federation said.
With few events scheduled between December 2023 and the Olympics to establish this ranking, “many athletes have only one result in a competition that counts towards the ranking,” according to a WDSF statement.
“Raygun” had won the Oceania Championship during this period, earning him 1000 points in the standings.
Japanese breaker Riko won the Gold World Series in Hong Kong in December, which also earned her 1,000 points, but the WDSF awarded the top spot to “Raygun”, believing that her competition carried more weight.
This top spot on the podium is expected to be short-lived, however, with the Federation confirming “that the rankings will change after the 12-month points period expires and when the next WDSF Breaking for Gold World Series is held in Shanghai in October 2024.”
Last week, University of Sydney lecturer Rachael Gunn apologised on Australian television for sparking backlash against the breakdancing community.
She said she did not expect to do well at the Olympics, but her record showed she was Australia’s best break-jumper.
“As soon as I qualified, I wondered what I had done because I knew I was going to be beaten and people weren’t going to understand my style and what I was going to do,” she said.