Viral Olympic striker Raygun is now number 1 in the world after the Paris bombing
Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, failed to score a single point at the Paris Olympics with her viral performances, but now she’s the one laughing. Raygun is now the best female breakdancer in the world, according to new rankings released by the World DanceSport Federation, the governing body for breakdancing.
Raygun won the 2023 WDSF Oceania Championships, for which she received 1,000 ranking points. Her victory in that event secured her spot at the Olympics. None of the medalists in women’s breaking at the Olympics – Japan’s Ami Yuasa, known as B-Girl Ami (gold), Lithuania’s Dominika Banevic, known as B-Girl Nicka (silver) and China’s Liu Qingyi, known as B-Girl 671 (bronze) – are currently ranked in the top 10.
Why Raygun is No. 1
How could this happen? How can Raygun be ranked #1 when the top three Olympic medalists weren’t even in the top 10? So many people have asked this question that the WDSF had to release an explanation as to why Raygun is currently ranked #1.
The rankings are based on the points of each breaker’s four best performances over the past 12 months. (Points expire after 52 weeks.) And like many other sports ahead of the Olympics, breaking has changed its schedule and scoring system to allow athletes to focus on their preparations for the Paris Games.
For this reason, three important events were not included in the rankings: the Olympic qualifiers in Shanghai and Budapest, and the Olympic Games themselves. So while Raygun received zero points at the Olympics based on her performance, the medalists also received none despite finishing in the top three.
Not only did these three major events not contribute to the points, they were also some of the few events that took place last year.
“In addition, in line with the Olympic qualification system, no ranking competitions were intentionally held between December 31, 2023 and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the WDSF statement said. “This strategic planning allowed athletes to focus exclusively on the final part of their Olympic qualification without the added pressure of additional ranking competitions.”
Right now, points from most other events have expired and no more points are being added due to the Olympics. This means that most breakers only have points from a single event to determine their ranking. And because Raygun won one of the last non-Olympic events, she is now the number one breaker in the world.
