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SINGAPORE: Making its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the sport of breaking or break dancing was catapulted to global attention after Rachael “Raygun” Gunn took to the stage.
Unfortunately for the Australian as well as the sport’s governing authorities, it was because her kangaroo-inspired routine failed to impress the judges and the online masses.
Gunn’s moves were parodied and mocked all over the world, with many questioning how she had qualified for the Olympics to begin with.
Speaking to CNA this week, the president of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) – which oversees breaking – compared Gunn’s performance “to that of a singer who chooses the wrong song to perform during a concert”.
“The ability and intent were there, but the performance itself simply did not resonate with the audience as envisaged, ” said Shawn Tay.
Gunn, a university lecturer, lost all three of her round robin battles by a combined score of 0-54. The competition was won by Japan’s Ami Yuasa, B-Girl Ami.
An online petition later emerged, accusing Gunn of manipulating the qualification process to earn her Paris spot attracted 50,000 signatures. It was removed at the request of the Australian Olympic Committee.
“The conspiracy theories were just awful,” Gunn said previously. “That was really upsetting, because it wasn’t just people that didn’t understand breaking and were just angry about my performance.
“It was people that are now attacking our reputation and our integrity. And none of them were grounded in any kind of facts.”
Tay, a Singaporean, said the WDSF stands firmly against any form of harassment or abuse, including cyberbullying.
“Our athletes deserve respect and support as they pursue their dreams,” he added. “I am all for constructive criticism, but what we experienced with Raygun at Paris 2024 went well beyond that, which is a great shame. The vitriol and false rumours circulated online were particularly unwelcome.”
Tay also said the “tsunami of interest” in Gunn meant those more deserving of the media spotlight were overshadowed.
“It’s an uphill battle but we have been doing all we can to try to shift the focus back to all the excellent performances we witnessed over two days of competition on the Place de la Concorde (in Paris),” he said.
“Those who equate breaking solely with Raygun’s performance in Paris are sadly missing out on much so more that our sport has to offer.
“Breaking was a terrific new addition to the Olympic Games and provided many new flavours, vibes and entertainment value that no other sport can deliver.”
Earlier this week, 37-year-old Gunn was crowned the world’s number one female breakdancer by WDSF.
The rankings were based on four top performances within the past 12 months, said the WDSF on Wednesday.
But with few ranking events held between December 2023 and the Olympics, “many athletes have only one competition result contributing to their ranking”, the federation explained.
Gunn won the Oceania Continental Championship in that period, earning her 1,000 ranking points.
Japanese B-girl Riko’s win at an event in Hong Kong in December also gave her 1,000 points.
But the WDSF said Gunn’s championship win carried more weight, so it awarded her the top ranking.
Looking back at the Paris Games which concluded last month, Tay said breaking rose to the occasion, and pointed to the “tremendous amount of skill, energy, and athleticism” of the athletes.
“The entire world now knows what a unique and colourful addition breaking is to the Olympic Games,” he added.
For Tay, there’s also a “silver lining” in the backlash from certain quarters over Gunn’s showing.
“This episode introduced breaking to countless numbers of people who may otherwise have never known that our sport was at the Olympic Games.
“It is our sincere hope that some of them will have been intrigued enough to learn more, and then hopefully gotten hooked on what they saw,” he said.
However some of this momentum will be curtailed by the exclusion of breaking from the next edition of the Games, to be held in Los Angeles come 2028.
Tay said this was a “tremendous disappointment” and not ideal for the sport’s progress.
“My only regret is that the LA28 organisers had to make their decision on new sports for their edition of the Games, before seeing breaking at Paris 2024,” he said.
“Had they had the opportunity to witness our Olympic debut first, I believe they would have reached a different conclusion.”
At the same time, Tay was confident in breaking’s ability to sustain interest, pointing to “high-level” international events on the calendar and the work already being put in to ensure the sport is part of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“This is definitely not the end of the road … Quite the contrary, we are invigorated by our success in Paris and look forward to many more years of collaboration with the breaking community around the world.”
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