Australian breaker Raygun retires after ‘upsetting’ Olympic backlash
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Rachel "Raygun" Gunn of Australia in action during the breaking competition at the Paris Olympics.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MELBOURNE – Breaker Rachael “Raygun” Gunn’s signature kangaroo bounce will not be seen on a competitive stage again after the Australian declared she could not bring herself to battle following the backlash over her Paris Olympics performance.
University lecturer Gunn became an overnight sensation after losing all three of her round-robin battles by a combined score of 54-0 when breaking made its Olympic debut at the Place de la Concorde.
The 37-year-old was mocked online and in the mainstream media for everything from her unorthodox moves – including kangaroo hops and imitating a sprinkler – to her green official team kit.
Gunn told Sydney radio she was still breaking but not competing.
“I’m not going to compete any more, no,” she said on 2DayFM.
“I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now.
“The level of scrutiny that’s going to be there. People will be filming it, it will be going online, it’s just not going to be the same experience.”
While many lampooned her performance on social media, Gunn won support from others, including her fellow Australian Olympians and even the country’s prime minister.
She will continue to dance, just not in competition.
She said: “Yeah, I mean I still dance, and I still break. But, you know, that’s like in my living room with my partner.
“It’s been really upsetting. I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was.”
Breaking was dropped from the Olympic programme for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. Gunn said she would not consider coming out of retirement if the dance sport returned to the Games.
An online petition that accused Gunn of manipulating the qualification procedure to earn her Paris spot attracted 50,000 signatures before it was removed at the request of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
The AOC also refuted a claim that Gunn’s husband, Samuel Free, who is also her coach, was involved in her selection.
Gunn said the “conspiracy theories were totally wild”.
“But I just try and stay on the positives and that’s what gets me through,” she added.
“The people that have like (said), ‘you have inspired me to go out there and do something that I’ve been too shy to do. You’ve brought joy, you’ve brought laughter. You know, we’re so proud of you’.”
Gunn did have the last laugh in September, when she was briefly elevated to the top of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) rankings.
The WDSF named her the No. 1 women’s breakdancer based on winning the Oceania Continental Championships, one of only a few events held that counted towards the rankings in the run-up to the Olympics. AFP, REUTERS
