Australian breaker Rachael “Raygun” Gunn holds the top spot in her sport’s latest world rankings despite Olympic performances that led to online ridicule and abuse.
On Tuesday, the sport’s governing body issued a statement to “provide clarity” on why Raygun tops the rankings.
Raygun, a 37-year-old university lecturer from Sydney, failed to score any points at the Paris Olympics in routines that included a “kangaroo” dance.
The World DanceSport Federation said the ranking methodology is based on each athlete’s top four performances within the past 12 months – but excludes Olympic events including the Paris Games and Olympic qualifier series events in Shanghai and Budapest.
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Additionally, no ranking events were held between December 2023 and the Olympics – to allow athletes to focus on qualification.
The federation clarified that the unusual circumstances of this year’s competition schedule resulted in many athletes being ranked based on a single event. In Raygun’s case, her first-place finish at the Oceania continental championships in October 2023 earned her 1,000 points.
Many within the breaking community have criticised the rankings for not giving a clear picture of breaking as a sport and as a culture.
“Speaking of the WDSF, they actually don’t have any real merit with the breakers or the breaking community,” said Zack Slusser, vice president of Breaking for Gold USA. “And they also haven’t been able to organise events by their measure that would contribute to creating an accurate world ranking.”
According to Slusser, breakers only performed in events organised by the WDSF – the Lausanne-based governing body for competitive dance sports – to get enough points to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Breakers “had no incentive, no desire to even continue participating with the WDSF after that,” Slusser said. “Because they’re not cultural events. They are not enjoyable.”
In contrast, Slusser pointed to international breaking competitions like Red Bull BC One championships that “are like festivals that are geared to the breakers. It’s about the vibe, it’s about the community”.
The WDSF said rankings will change once more events occur, starting with the Breaking for Gold World Series in Shanghai in October. — Guardian
