'Great performance': Aussie teen b-boy J Attack goes one better than Raygun in Olympic debut
Australia's J Attack has failed to make it out of the opening round robin of the Paris 2024 breaking competition but won praise for a "great performance".
He also won the favour of at least one judge to ensure the country doesn't record a complete shutout in the sport's only Olympic appearance.
The 16-year-old's efforts weren't enough to secure a win in any of his three round robin battles overnight, nor did they go viral like Aussie b-girl Raygun's Australiana-filled performance in the women's event.
READ MORE: 'My worst marathon': Sad end to GOAT's Olympic career
READ MORE: Aussie tradie marathon runner 'shattered' in Paris
READ MORE: 'Extraordinary' champions handed flag bearer honours
Australia's Jeffrey Dan Arpie Dunne, known as B-Boy J Attack competes during the B-Boys round robin battle for the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, August 10, 2024, in Paris, France. AP Photo/Abbie Parr
It was a tough challenge for the teen – real name Jeff Dunne – as he faced some breakers more than twice his age.
Just like Raygun – 36-year-old Australian full-time lecturer Rachel Gunn – J Attack stood out from the crowd with a full Australian Olympic tracksuit, rather than the more relaxed street clothing favoured by many of the competitors.
While J Attack didn't manage a win, he picked up a judge's vote in two of his three battles, an improvement on Raygun's shutout.
He won praise from the commentators for a "great performance" and going for some big moves.
Unfortunately, they weren't enough to get him over the line.
In his first battle, Ukraine's Kuzya won both rounds and allowed J Attack to claim only one of the 18 judge votes on offer.
"It's really important to note that sometimes the bigger moves will not get you the win, because it is really important to have concepts within your rounds," one of the commentators said.
"So if you are just throwing moves after move, and there's no coherent flow or some kind of concepts behind that, or composition, is what we call it, then the other competitor might get the win if they're doing less bigger moves, but they do have a concept and a flow.
"And in this round, that's what we saw from Kuzya. He had a very nice flow, very good concepts, used his cultural dances within his breaking and was very aware of the music."
It was the same story in the second battle, against France's Dany Dann, who unanimously won both rounds.
He had previously talked about taking advantage of opponents losing connection with the music and flow.
"He says he feels that dancers actually often lose their musicality because they're so focused on executing big moves and she sees an opportunity there for himself when he comes across a breaker like that," the commentator pointed out.
J Attack was again outclassed in the third battle as Canada's Phil Wizard showed off a much tighter connection to the music in a more varied routine.
But he did manage to pick up a vote from one judge, leaving him in last place in the group with no wins and two votes from a possible 54.
Breaking is not expected to return at Los Angeles 2028, a decision the World DanceSport Federation said it was "profoundly disappointed" in.
The Paris 2024 competition opened with a round-robin phase, where groups of four breakers face off against each other one by one.
Only two emerge from each round-robin group before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final matchup to determine the champion.
Kuzya and Phil Wizard went through from group B.
Watch every moment, every medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event ad-free and in 4K on Stan Sport.
