By Cheta Enyoghasi
Australian break dancer, Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, has become the No. 1 female breaker in the world, according to the World Dance Sport Federation’s new rankings.
Raygun won the 2023 WDSF Oceania Championships, earning 1,000 ranking points. Her victory in that event secured her place for the Olympics.
None of the medalists in women’s breaking at the Olympics, including Japan’s Ami Yuasa (gold), Lithuania’s Dominika Banevic (silver), and China’s Liu Qingyi (bronze), are presently ranked in the top ten.
The WDSF changed its schedule and awarding of points to allow athletes to focus on preparation leading up to the Paris Games.
As a result, three major events did not contribute to the rankings points: Olympic qualifiers in Shanghai and Budapest, and the Olympic Games itself.
She earned zero points from the Olympics due to her performance, while the other medalists did not earn any points either despite finishing in the top three.
They released a statement explaining why Raygun is currently ranked first, despite the top three Olympic medalists not even in the top 10 after people reacted to her being declared the world’s number one.
They said that ranking events were intentionally not held between 31 December 2023 and the Olympic Games Paris 2024, allowing athletes to focus solely on the last part of their Olympic qualification without the added pressure of additional ranking events.
As a result, most breakers have the points from just one event deciding their ranking, and Raygun is now the No. 1 breaker in the world.
The statement reads: “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”.
