On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the World DanceSport Federation released their rankings for the best break dancers. Controversial breaker Rachael Gunn was ranked number one despite her getting zero points in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Questions arose on social media on how she ranked first after receiving zero points at the Olympics. The World DanceSport Federation stated that the ranking is based on the performer’s last four performances and excludes the Paris Games and Olympic qualifiers.
When it was announced that Breaking would be an Olympic sport, many breakers were extremely excited that their sport was finally getting recognized worldwide. One of those people was Australian 36-year-old Rachael Gunn known as Raygun.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics ending in August, people worldwide were left shocked by one of the new sports added to the lineup. Breaking first became big in the 1970s, popular in the backstreet dance world. Breaking combines intense footwork and complicated acrobatic tricks with roots in hip-hop. The first international competition recorded was in the 1990s and it took off from there. Breaking was proposed by Paris Olympic organizers in 2022 after a successful trial at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
Gunn claimed her spot in the 2024 Olympics by representing Australia in the Oceania Breaking Championship for three consecutive years, winning the champion title in 2023, making her eligible for the Olympics. Gunn was excited to participate in the competition and gave it her all up on the stage but her hard work did not pay off as she scored a zero.
After the competition, she began receiving backlash from netizens all over the world who were shocked by her interesting breaking style. Moves like hopping like a kangaroo and laying on the floor and twisting from side to side sparked netizens to spread memes and criticism all over the internet.
When awards and rankings were announced many were not surprised when Gunn came in last place with zero points. This made the internet explode with more criticism over her performance. Gunn then took to the internet about this matter and according to an NBC News article she stated that “there are actually no points in breaking.”
Netizens were quick to respond after researching the rules of breaking from the official Olympic website. Rules state that the judges score out of five categories; creativity, musicality, personality, technique, performativity and variety. They then add the scores up and the person with the most points wins that round.
After this was revealed, an article from ABC News, stated that Gunn took a break from social media after posting asking the press to “please stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community, and the broader street dancing community.” She also took a break from training and is now focusing on her teaching position at Macquarie University Faculty of Arts.
Unfortunately, after this year’s trial run of breaking, it was announced that it will no longer be an Olympic sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
