It would be funny if China put a ton/tonne of effort into cricket and fielded an internationally dominant team, just to f*ck with certain countries. One obstacle, though, is that China would be limited to recruiting from mathematics Ph.Ds, so the players could have some chance of understanding the rules.
Twenty20 is the shortest and most approachable form of the game, with matches last only ~3hrs including breaks. The basics are pretty simple: each side faces 120 balls (20 "overs" of 6 balls each) from the other, the team that scores the most runs wins. After Los Angeles 2028, I think it's safe to assume that the Australian Olympic Committee will choose to keep T20 around for Brisbane 2032.
There are a lot of different angles to the Raygun affair. It's almost like a kaleidoscope that you can turn every which way to see what you want to see:
1. It's strange and unfortunate that her performance has probably received more publicity than all of the more talented male and female breakdancers of the competition put together. In the women's competition, the top competitors Ami, Nicka, 861 and India all put in great performances and I recommend watching them. It's particularly odd when one considers that a lot of sports have some truly awful performances at the low-end that pass without comment, and indeed often with celebration for the athletes for turning up and doing their best. I guess there is a more performative aspect to breakdancing that makes Raygun more meme-able than e.g. the Algerian skateboarder that did not complete a single run.
2. It's strange and unfortunate that her performance is probably the leading image the world takes away about Australia from the 2024 Olympics, when we had so many fantastic performances elsewhere leading to a #4 finish on the medal table. Our amazing swimmers like Mollie O'Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus, Kallie McKeown, or the Fox sisters who took home three Gold medals between them in Kayak/Canoe, are as nothing before someone doing a kangaroo hop! This isn't really a big deal: obviously folks latch onto memes like the Korean and Turkish shooters, the well-endowed French pole vaulter, the Chinese athlete appearing shocked to see others on the podium biting their medals, or the reaction from the American divers when one Chinese diver picked up the other, etc. It's only natural that we focus on such things.
3. In isolation from the Olympic competition and from breakdancing as a competitive endeavour, one would probably say that Raygun displays impressive agility for a woman in her mid-30s and remarkable self-belief to get up on the stage and perform as she did. Could I have done what she did, either physically or mentally? Definitely not.
4. The personal abuse she has apparently received since her performance is unacceptable and should rightly be condemned. In the longer-term, however, I think her elevated public profile may well benefit her if she can grasp the opportunities. Australia loves winning, but we also love an underdog and feel-good stories about persons who gave it their all. We can already see the signs of this "comeback narrative" in her
at the closing ceremony. I think she will be ok.
5. There seem to be legitimate questions to be asked about the organizational structures that led to Raygun being selected as Australia's representative for breakdancing. It seems to be a combination of a legitimately very shallow talent pool, the tight timelines for setting up the relevant bodies and competitions to get breakdancing to the Paris 2024 Olympics, and potentially some cultural resistance to going through the "Olympic process" amongst some portion of the breakdancing community. I haven't seen any real evidence to suggest that Raygun's presence is corruption or nepotism as some have suggested, but I think it's worth looking at the process that occurred and how it could be improved going forward.
6. The tensions between breakdancing as a rebellious, counter-cultural movement and the regimented, rule-bound processes that govern Olympic competition are interesting to consider, as are the angles about a historically black art form being coopted by white folks. I don't think there are any clear answers to these questions but I can recognise the passionate positions that have been put forward in recent days, with Raygun as the focal point for a broader discussion. It's worth noting that skateboarding has similar "issues" yet seems to have been more successfully integrated into the Olympics, such that my understanding is that skateboarding will now be a regular inclusion (rather than an optional one as breakdancing was at Paris 2024 or Twenty20 cricket will be at Los Angeles 2028). Ironically, Raygun is a Ph.D who has authored papers on these issues. Some would say that makes her "part of the problem", i.e. gentrification of breakdancing, but it also puts her in a position to comment intelligently on these issues going forward, if she is minded to.
At this point I hope that Australia chooses to bring breakdancing back for the 2032 Olympics and puts Raygun forward in some kind of figurehead or announcer role, to demonstrate that we will continue to celebrate the form and will not be cowed by the slings and arrows of this world.
