Sports
By Giulia Gutzwiller, Newswire Intern
Following her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Australian breaker Rachael Gunn, commonly referred to as Raygun, garnered negative attention from audiences around the world. Despite the criticism and online harassment she faced, RayGun was ranked as the No. 1 female breaker in the world by the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) in October 2023.
In recent years, Raygun acquired many accolades as she has consistently ranked in the top three at various Australian breaking competitions. Additionally, she attended the past three World Breaking Championships and won the Oceana Breaking Championships in 2023, where she qualified to compete in the 2024 Olympics.
This summer, Raygun competed in three 60-second improvised breaking battles in the Olympics and did not score points in any of them. The breakers were scored on technique, originality, musicality, vocabulary and execution. She was eliminated after losing her third battle and was quickly met with intense backlash.
Breaking was featured for the first time ever at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where Rachael Gunn, or ‘Raygun,’ scored no points in the three battles she took part in before being eliminated from the Games.
RayGun’s performances went viral across social media due to her unconventional movement style and choreography. Her ‘kangaroo hop’ and monochrome outfit were also the subjects of online harassment, with many people posting memes and leaving hateful comments on her social media posts.
Her now infamous performance became a source of content for many traditional media outlets as well. News channels around the world covered her story, and shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon poked fun at Raygun with comedic skits.
Notable performers such as the No. 2 ranked Riko Tsuhako from Japan and the No. 3 ranked Anna “Stefani” Ponomarenko from Ukraine followed closely behind Raygun. Her Australian teammates, Molly Therese “Holy Molly” Chapman and Hannah Georgina Belet, were also ranked as No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
While Raygun did not perform at the same level as some of the other breakers in the Olympics, there were technicalities that helped her land the top spot in the world rankings. The ranking is determined by a competitor’s best four performances at competitions within the last year, which did not include the Olympic events.
Raygun scored fewer points than No. 2 breaker Riko Tsuhako overall, but the 1000-point score she received at the Oceana Breaking Championships outweighed Tsuhako’s 1000-point score at the Breaking for Gold World Series, as the former is considered to be a more difficult and competitive event. As the WDSF ranking events continue this year, it is likely that Raygun will not maintain her No. 1 spot.
Raygun’s Olympic performance has undoubtedly drawn significant attention to breaking and has evaded many question how breakdancing should be judged.
