B-girl Raygun, the Olympic breaking competitor whose awkward moves brought her international fame but did not result in the awarding of a single point at the Paris Games, is now No. 1 in the world rankings.
By Des Bieler
Well, breaking’s international governing body heard the hubbub, and it can explain.
In a lengthy statement released Tuesday that it said was intended to “provide clarity on the ranking methodology and address the concerns raised,” the World DanceSport Federation noted that the Olympics and its various qualifying events earlier in the year did not count toward the rankings. The reason for that, per the WDSF, was the “limited athlete quotas” involved in those competitions.
At the same time, to accommodate the run-up to the Olympics, the WDSF has not yet staged any breaking events this year that would have counted toward the world rankings.
“This strategic scheduling,” the WDSF said, “allowed athletes to focus solely on the last part of their Olympic qualification without the added pressure of additional ranking events.”
Because the rankings use a rolling points system based on an athlete’s top four performances from the previous 12 months, many competitors have been left by now with just one performance that falls within the required time frame. The 2023 WDSF world championships, staged Sept. 23-24, were within that time frame but, as the governing body pointed out, no rankings points were awarded there, as they had been in the 2022 installment.
The 2023 world championships did, however, award a berth at this year’s Olympic competition to its winners. On the women’s side, that honor went to Lithuania’s Dominika Banevic — a.k.a. B-girl Nicka — who proceeded to earn a silver medal in Paris.
Raygun placed 64th at the world championships, out of a field of 80, after finishes of 42nd and 73rd in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Her path to Paris was paved at the inaugural Oceania Championship, staged in October. Not only did she win that 15-woman competition, giving her an automatic berth in the Summer Games without having to go through this year’s Olympic qualifying events, but Raygun’s victory also bestowed 1,000 rankings points.
That points haul is what has Raygun atop the world rankings, and it also could explain why nine other competitors representing Australia and New Zealand — all of whom competed at the Oceania Championship — are in the top 20.
Another breaking athlete, Japan’s Riko “B-girl Riko” Tsuhako, also earned 1,000 points in December at the WDSF Breaking for Gold (BfG) World Series, which was staged in Hong Kong and featured 58 competitors. The WDSF explained Tuesday, though, that Raygun got the higher ranking on a tiebreaker formula that gives precedence to a continental championship such as the Oceania event.
Riko is No. 2 for now, but the WDSF noted that she and other competitors will have a chance to earn rankings points again next month at this year’s BfG World Series, to be held in Shanghai.
“The WDSF remains steadfast in its commitment to transparency and fairness in the competitive ranking process,” the organization said. “We trust that this explanation resolves any concerns regarding the methodology behind the current standings.”
It remains to be seen whether Raygun competes at that event and, if so, whether she reprises the kangaroo-themed moves she unveiled in Paris. Raygun said at the time that, knowing she couldn’t match the athleticism of her younger competitors, she wanted to take a more “artistic and creative” approach that honored her native land.
In three Olympic matches — including one against Nicka — she lost by identical scores of 18-0, and her performances garnered derision within the breaking world and from some who caught her viral clips online.
Several fellow Australians, including the nation’s prime minister, shared messages of support for Raygun. In the aftermath of her widely noted showing in Paris, however, she said she didn’t realize it would “also open the door to so much hate which has, frankly, been pretty devastating.”
This month, Raygun said the criticism has taken a toll on her mental health and sparked concerns for her personal safety. She also expressed dismay that the Australian breaking scene has suffered collateral damage, saying she was “very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can’t control how people react.”
Of her “wild ride” to the forefront of the global conversation regarding her sport, Raygun said, “It kind of feels like a really weird dream that I’ve been having that I’m going to wake up from at any moment.”
