Australia’s infamous Olympic breakdancer Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has been ranked number 1 in the latest Breaking World Ranking List.
The B-girl whose performance at the Paris Olympics went viral for all the wrong reasons, left the Games without a single point.
The backlash she’s faced since Paris led Australia’s chef de mission to speak out in her defence.
And now Gunn has been ranked number one in the world by the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF).
In a statement, the Federation said it “acknowledges the recent inquiries” regarding the world rankings.
“We would like to take this opportunity to provide clarity on the ranking methodology and address the concerns raised.
“The WDSF remains steadfast in its commitment to transparency and fairness in the competitive ranking process. We trust that this explanation resolves any concerns regarding the methodology behind the current standings.”
World rankings were based on a dancer’s top four performances within the last 12 months, it said.
Neither the Olympic Games in Paris, nor the Olympic qualifiers held in Shanghai and Budapest earlier this year counted because they had limited athlete quotas.
There were also no ranking events held between 31 December 2023 and the Paris Games last month, in order to allow athletes competing in the Olympics to focus on that.
“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 WDSF said.
“The recent rankings of B-Girl Raygun and B-Girl Riko have drawn particular attention.”
Gunn placed first at the Oceania Continental Championships in October 2023.
Second ranked B-Girl Riko of Japan won the Breaking for Gold World Series in Hong Kong in December 2023, an event that ranks lower than the continental championship.
WDSF said the world rankings would change at the time the world series was held in China next month.