the Australian “Raygun”, laughing stock of the Paris 2024 Olympics, ranked world number 1 in her sport – Libération

The performer of the “kangaroo dance” was able to bounce back. Australian breaker “Raygun”, mocked for her performance at the Paris Olympics, was crowned world number 1 in her sport, the governing body confirmed this Wednesday, September 11. Her performance was parodied many times on international talk shows and break fans around the world wondered how she could have been selected. The sportswoman had denounced a wave of hatred and harassment to which she was the subject.

Rachael Gunn, 37, now has her revenge after being eliminated in the qualifying phases during the Paris Olympics without collecting a single point: she was named the best breaker in the world by the World Dancesport Federation (WDSF). The ranking is based on the athlete’s four best performances over the past 12 months, the Federation said.

With few events organized between December 2023 and the Olympic Games to establish this ranking, “many athletes have only one result in a ranking competition”according to a press release from the WDSF. “Raygun” had won the Oceania Championship during this period, earning him 1,000 points in the rankings.

A short-term ranking

Japanese breaker Riko won the Gold World Series in Hong Kong in December, which also earned her 1,000 points, but the WDSF awarded first place to “Raygun”, believing that her competition had more weight. This first place on the podium should however be short-lived, the federation having confirmed “that the rankings will change after the expiration of the twelve months of points and when the next WDSF Breaking for Gold World Series is held in Shanghai in October 2024”.

Last week, Rachael Gunn, a lecturer at the University of Sydney, apologized on Australian television for provoking backlash against the breakdancing community. She said in particular that she did not expect to perform well at the Olympics, but that her record showed that she was the best breaker in Australia. And to explain: “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.”