After Raygun’s viral performance at the Olympics, some were surprised to discover the breakdancer is currently number one in the World DanceSport Federation's (WDSF) female ranking.
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn, an academic and breakdancer from New South Wales, Australia, became the talk of the town at the recent Paris Summer Olympics when she competed in breaking.
The 2024 Games, which were the first Olympics to feature the sport, saw Raygun receive a score of zero in competition against Nicka, Sya 'Syssy' Dembele and Logan 'Logistx' Edra.
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Despite Raygun’s controversial performance at the Games, Gunn is the number one 'B-Girl' (break-girl) in the September ranking from the World DanceSport Federation.
Meanwhile, Olympic medallists Ami 'Ami' Yuasa, Dominika 'Nicka' Banevic and Liu '671' Qingyi don’t feature on the list.
While the ranking seems to be the result of a bizarre decision-making process, the WDSF shared a statement explaining the criteria to make the list, and how the ranking point system works.
"We would like to take this opportunity to provide clarity on the ranking methodology and address the concerns raised," the WDSF statement began.
"Furthermore, 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."
The WDFS clarified that some athletes find themselves with just one competition result to count towards their ranking after the Olympics.
"Consequently, 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," the statement continued.
"Due the unique circumstances regarding ranking events this year, it is not unusual in the period immediately following the Olympic Games for some athletes to be ranked according to a single event."
As for Raygun, the Aussie breakdancer will maintain her top spot until the end of October, when her points expire.
Since her performance in Paris, Gunn has shared her decision to stop competing for the time being, but assuring her fans she will continue breaking.
"I don't think I'll be competing for a while. Not really wanting to be in the spotlight, breaking, competing,' she said on The Project.
"It's been nice. It's been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again. Like, that's actually been tough. You know, it was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress.
"So, I'm really happy that it gets to go back to being my medicine. I can kind of finally feel free again. I'm looking forward to breaking, but, no, I don't think I'll compete for a while."
Stefania Sarrubba