Rachael “Raygun” Gunn was graded first place in the World DanceSport Federation’s rankings despite failing to score a single point at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The breakdancing classification comes as photographs of the athlete hanging out with the rich and famous shed new light on her lifestyle.
The Olympian was spotted at Sydney Airport, Australia, on Monday (September 9) alongside her husband and coach after spending weeks reportedly holidaying in Europe after the Games’ closing ceremony wrapped up in August, Sky News reported on Monday.
Despite performing a controversial routine, with many accusing the researcher in the cultural politics of breaking of overshadowing the discipline with her questionable moves, including a snake jiggle and kangaroo hops, Raygun emerged at the top.
After receiving a grand total of zero points from the judges in Paris, France, the Aussie dancer has been elevated to world number one in the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF)’s rankings, which is an international governing body for dance.
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn was graded first place in the World DanceSport Federation’s rankings
B-Girl Riko from Japan is ranked at number two, followed by B-Girl Stefani from Ukraine at number three, and B-Girl Holy Molly from Australia at number four.
In breakdancing, “B-girl” and “B-boy” are terms used to refer to female and male breakdancers, respectively.
The “B” stands for “break,” which comes from the breakbeats in music that dancers originally performed to. The terms were popularized in the 1970s when breakdancing (also known as breaking or b-boying/b-girling) emerged as a key element of hip-hop culture.
Both B-boys and B-girls showcase their skills through a variety of moves, including top rock (footwork performed while standing), down rock (moves performed on the floor), power moves (dynamic acrobatic moves), and freezes (holding a pose).
According to Dr. Gunn‘s profile, she scored 1000 points when she won the WDSF Continental Championship in the 1vs1 B-Girls category in October last year.
This event was the official qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, in which breaking made its debut as a sport, as per Sky News.
She ranked first despite failing to score a single point at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Amid backlash emerging from her viral Olympic performance, Raygun, who holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and a BA in Contemporary Music from Macquarie University, has seemingly enjoyed her summer in Europe.
In her latest Instagram post, the Hornsby, Australia, native posted a carousel depicting her post-Olympic break, captioning it, “What a time, what a vibe.”
The post featured pictures of Raygun and her husband, Samuel Free, in addition to snaps with Virgin founder Richard Branson enjoying their time spent at what looks like a château somewhere in Europe.
A video posted to Instagram stories showed Raygun breakdancing with passengers on one of Richard’s Virgin Voyages cruises while the British business magnate imitated her infamous kangaroo hop pose.
In a surprising moment, a video showed Richard kneeling and groveling in front of Raygun at a restaurant before getting up and kissing the Olympian’s hands.
The scene shifted to Australian TV presenter Sonia Kruger laughing with the billionaire and the 37-year-old dancer at a dinner table.
This comes as pics of the athlete hanging out with the rich and famous shed new light on her
Other photos captured Raygun and British singer Boy George sharing a backstage laugh. Moreover, footage showed the b-girl’s perspective from backstage while the Karma Chameleon hitmaker performed on stage.
Raygun lost all three round-robin battles representing Australia at the summer Olympics, scoring 18-0, 18-0, 18-0 against the USA, France, and Lithuania during breaking’s debut on August 9.
From her ridiculous ground-twitching moves to her Australian Olympic tracksuit, Raygun was both ruthlessly mocked and praised, as a person on X (formerly known as Twitter) wrote: “If this Raygun lady turns out to be a comedian who somehow blagged her way through qualifiers and all the way to the Olympics, and was bad on purpose, it will be one of the greatest bits ever achieved.”
Amid growing criticism, Raygun took to her Instagram page, seemingly pointing to gender bias, as she wrote: “Looking forward to the same level of scrutiny on what the bboys wear tomorrow.”
As per her Macquarie University profile, Raygun’s work draws on cultural theory, dance studies, popular music studies, media, and ethnography.
Moreover, Raygun was the Australian Breaking Association’s top-ranked b-girl in 2020 and 2021, and she represented Australia at the World Breaking Championships in Paris, France, in 2021, in Seoul, South Korea, in 2022, and in Leuven, Belgium, in 2023.
Raygun spent time with Virgin founder, Richard Branson
Nevertheless, Raygun’s academic background sparked controversy, as Hannah Berreli, the editor for On The Woman Q, shared on X: “Turns out Rachael Gunn here has a PhD in cultural studies, with a specialty in the gender politics of movement and breakdance.
“She has written about how including break dance in the Olympics changes it from a practice within an alternative subculture, to a hegemonic one that incorporates the dance into what she sees as Australia’s settler colonialist project.
“I am 100% certain what she is doing here, in wearing the Australia kit even, is trying to make some subversive point she can later write journal articles about.”
Hannah slammed Raygun’s performance for being a stunt that diminished Australia on the world stage.
“Hundreds of Australian athletes who will have dedicated their entire lives to athletic excellence will be forgotten because Rachael wanted to bulk up her ResearchGate profile,” Hannah wrote. “Rather than their medals and efforts, this is what Australia will be remembered for.”
The editor continued: “Not to mention the disastrous effect this will have on break dancing as a sport. Its position in the Olympics is not secure, and surely won’t be taken seriously after this.
Raygun was accused of overshadowing breaking with her questionable moves
Image credits: The Project
“Good job Rachael, you really showed those chauvinist nationalists, hundreds of women and girls will not get their Olympic opportunity now.”
It has since been announced that breaking won’t be returning at the next summer Olympic games, which will take place in 2028 in Los Angeles, USA.
“Good for her, hope she thrives,” a reader commented
