Australian breakdancer Raygun is ranked number 1 in the world. Find out how.

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) has named Australia's viral Olympic breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn the best B-girl in the world. Sure, why not.

Raygun rose to international prominence during the Paris Olympics when she failed to score a single point in all six rounds of the three events she competed in, using widely criticized moves. One move in particular was one in which she curled her hands in front of her and hopped like a kangaroo. Her performance quickly went viral, with people around the world poking fun at her unorthodox style.

Despite this, Raygun has now managed to secure the first place on the WDSF Breaking World Ranking List of B-Girls. She is currently followed by Riko Tsuhako from Japan and Anna “Stefani” Ponomarenko from Ukraine. Australian breakdancers Molly Therese “Holy Molly” Chapman and Hannah Georgina Belet are in fourth and fifth place. They also took second and third place in the competition that qualified Raygun for this year's Olympic Games.

How did Raygun become the No. 1 B-Girl in the world?

According to the WDSF, the world rankings are subject to the organization's Breaking Rules and Regulations Manual and are based on each competitor's four best performances in ranking events within the last twelve months.

However, such events were deliberately suspended in the run-up to the Paris Olympics earlier this year. In a statement released on Tuesday, the WDSF said this was done to give dancers the opportunity to focus on qualifying for the Olympics without having to turn their attention to ranking competitions.

While most of the Olympic qualifying competitions in the sport of breaking were held in 2023 (including the Oceania Breaking Championships that led to Raygun's qualification), the final Olympic qualifying competitions were held in May and June 2024. The results of these qualifying competitions and the Olympic Games themselves were not taken into account in determining the WDSF rankings “due to limited athlete quotas”.

Due to this break in the competitive breaking circuit, the WDSF found that many competitors only contributed a single event to their rankings, so Raygun's 2180 points in two events were enough to secure her the top spot.

Image credit: Screenshot: Mashable

“Until WDSF ranking events resume later this year, current world rankings should therefore be interpreted in the context of the results of recent global breaking competitions to provide a more accurate picture of the global competitive landscape,” the WDSF said.

Riko also technically earned more points overall than Raygun. However, the WDSF stated that Raygun's 1000 points at the Oceania Breaking Championships were given more weight than Riko's 1000 points at the Breaking for Gold World Series because the former is considered a higher level of competition.

Essentially, Raygun is currently ranked number 1 in the world rankings only due to a few technicalities. Despite this, it is unlikely that she will hold her position as number 1 for long. Raygun's WDSF ranking points from the Oceania Breaking Championships expire at the end of October, the same month another competition takes place in Shanghai.

Raygun stands by her Olympic performance

Photo credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

Raygun recently defended her performance in her first interview since the Olympics, putting the barrage of criticism down to “people not being that knowledgeable about breakdancing.” When asked if she thought she was Australia's best breakdancer, the 37-year-old said she believed her “record speaks for itself.”

“It's just a different approach to breaking,” Raygun said on the Australian talk show The project. “There are the sporty style breakers, there are also the more artistic style breakers, and all of them are very valid.”

Nevertheless, the general public is still largely skeptical.

Breakers against the World DanceSport Federation

Photo credit: Elsa / Getty Images

Unfortunately, the organization's insistence on Raygun's abilities has only undermined its authority among many who have seen her perform firsthand. Some have also questioned the WDSF's ability to regulate breakdancing at all, especially since the organization's roots lie in competitive ballroom dancing.

This criticism is not new. In 2017, over 2,000 people signed a Change.org petition by b-boy Serouj “Midus” Aprahamian titled “Keep the WDSF's Hands Off Hip Hop.” Like Raygun, Midus is a university professor specializing in dance. Unlike Raygun, he stated in his petition that the WDSF “has absolutely no connection or credibility with any legitimate institution in the global breaking community.” Midus accused the WDSF of only focusing on breaking to gain a foothold in the Olympics, in the hopes of eventually convincing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to add ballroom dancing to the list.

Although the WDSF has rejected such allegations, it initially commissioned consultant Jean-Laurent Bourquin to submit an application to the IOC to include ballroom dancing in the Olympic Games. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Bourquin convinced the WDSF to shift its focus to breaking because it had a better chance of success. Unfortunately, he did not realize at the time that the WDSF had no authority in the breaking community.

The end result is the situation we live in now, with breakdancing bringing to mind Australian university lecturers doing kangaroo hopping at the Olympics. Given the international attention Raygun attracted with her performance, it will probably be a while before this association fades.