Australian Olympian Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has been ranked the No.1 breakdancer in the world, according to the latest women’s rankings released by the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) – the governing body of breaking and other dancesports. 

Gunn, who faced widespread criticism for her shoddy performance at the Paris Olympics that went viral on social media, claimed the numero uno position, courtesy of her gold medal at the 2023 WDSF Oceania Championships. The win helped her secure 1,000 ranking points and come level on points with world no. 2 B-Girl Riko of Japan. 

The governing body stated that Olympic qualifying events as well as the Paris Games themselves did not contribute to the ranking list due to limited athlete quotas. 

“In alignment with the Olympic Qualification System, ranking events were intentionally not held between 31 December 2023 and the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” WDSF said. 

“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 decision left the netizens confused who wondered how Raygun could reach the summit of world rankings despite her poor performances at the marquee event.  

One user said: “How do they even rank this like is it voted by people or committee??”, while another added: “Well, bad publicity is still publicity.”

Notably, Raygun participated in three Olympic battles against breakers from the United States, France and Lithuania and lost all of them without scoring a single point. 

Wearing a green tracksuit, Raygun delivered a rather eccentric performance which included kangaroo-inspired hopping as a dance move which instantly led to a sea of memes on social media.

Quizzed during an interview about her performance, Raygun said she is Australia’s best B-girl and her ‘record speaks’ for itself. 

“I think my record speaks to that,” said Raygun in her first sit-down interview with Network 10 earlier this month. 

When asked about the disapproval from the breaking community, with some claiming she had set back the progression of the sport, Gunn said:

“It is really sad to hear those criticisms and I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can’t control how people react.”

In the aftermath of her performance, accusations were levelled that Raygun manipulated the selection process by setting up her own governing body where her husband judged her qualification trial.  

(With inputs from agencies)