Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, better known as B-girl RayGun, who went viral for all the wrong reasons at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, has announced her retirement from the sport.
The 37-year-old university lecturer had initially planned to continue competing, but the aftermath of her Olympic debut proved too much to handle. In an interview with a local Australian radio station, RayGun stated,
I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was. I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now. I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there, and people will be filming it, and it will go online.
RayGun’s breakdance routine at the Olympics was a spectacle that defied both gravity and conventional breakdancing wisdom.
Her unique blend of moves, including the infamous “sprinkler” and a hop that could only be described as kangaroo-inspired, failed to earn her a single point in any of her three competition rounds during the Olympic event. Despite—or perhaps because of—her lackluster scores, Gunn’s performance catapulted her to global infamy.
She became the target of a deluge of violent messages and an anonymous petition demanding an apology, which falsely accused her and her husband of manipulating her selection at the expense of other Australian talent.
Despite vigorous defense from Olympic officials, her performance split opinion within the breaking community, with some purists claiming she made a mockery of the sport.
Reflecting on the Olympic backlash, Gunn admitted that it had taken the joy out of the sport for her. “Dancing is so much fun, and it makes you feel good. I don’t think people should feel crap about the way that they dance,” she said. “I still dance, and I still break. But, you know, that’s like in my living room with my partner!”
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