The Australian breaker Raygun was laughed at for her performance at the Paris Games. Nevertheless, she is number one in the world rankings. This is due to special rules for the Olympics.
With her kangaroo moves at the Olympic Games, Australian Rachel Gunn quickly went viral, and was the worst of the 16 participants with zero points. Her unusual dance style brought the 37-year-old breaker a lot of ridicule and malice. Many people asked themselves: How could she even qualify for this competition with this? And why is she at the top of the world rankings despite her performance? The World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) has now issued a statement on the matter.
It states that the ranking methodology is based on the four best performances of each athlete over the past 12 months – but excludes Olympic events, including the Paris Games and the Olympic qualifying series in Shanghai and Budapest. In addition, no ranking events were deliberately held this year before the Paris Olympics, it says. This is in line with the Olympic qualification system.
Many athletes were therefore only classified based on a single event, according to the Lausanne-based governing body for competitive dance sport. Raygun’s ranking can be explained by the fact that she took first place at the Oceania continental championships in October 2023.
Many in the breaking community have criticized the rankings for not giving a clear picture of breaking as a sport and as a culture. “As far as the WDSF is concerned, they don’t really have any real recognition among breakers or in the breaking community,” said Zack Slusser, vice president of the American dance organization Breaking for Gold USA. “And they haven’t been able to organize events that would contribute to an accurate world ranking.”
Raygun spoke out about hate comments after participating in the Olympics
The WDSF said the rankings will change as more events are added, starting with the Breaking for Gold World Series in Shanghai in October.
Rachel Gunn, who is a scientist in her home country and gives lectures at a university, expressed her disappointment about hate on the internet after the competition. She said that the reactions she was confronted with were “pretty devastating”. Her movements were “original”, she explained her dance style. “Creativity is very important to me and that’s why I try to show my art out there,” said Gunn. “Sometimes the judges like it, sometimes they don’t. I do my thing and it’s art. That’s what it’s about.”
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Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
