After receiving mixed reactions online to her performance in the debut of the Olympics’ Breaking event, Australia’s b-girl Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn called out her critics and pointed out a double standard.
Rachael Gunn, winner of PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION’s Sports Star Of The Year Award, made her mark on history at Paris 2024 when she became the first person to ever represent Australia in the brand-new sport, breaking — which is colloquially referred to as “breakdancing” by the uninitiated.
The 36-year-old Macquarie University professor with a PhD in cultural movement (that I studied under!) was chosen to don the green and gold in the event, along with Jeff ‘J Attack’ Dunne, after she won the 2023 Oceania Breaking Championships.
And though she unfortunately lost all three of her round-robin battles at Paris 2024, Raygun won the hearts of people worldwide as she went viral for her entirely original moves.
Her Australian “kangaroo-esque” performance caught the attention of the judges and crowds, and spawned many a meme.
Toddlers when you say it’s nap time pic.twitter.com/jiwcIFtnUb
— LilHumansBigImpact (@BigImpactHumans) August 9, 2024
“All my moves are original,” Rachael Gunn told reporters after her breaking battles.
“I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way.”
Raygun quickly became Australia’s most viral athlete at the Games — even more than the ones who dropped the F-bomb in their post-match interviews — with newfound fans sharing their support online.
“I just need everyone to know that this absolute icon has a PhD & does research on hip hop culture and street dance,” wrote one fan.
“Raygun needs to carry the flag at the closing ceremony,” comedian Josh Earl petitioned in an Instagram Post.
Unfortunately not everyone was supportive of her performance, with people online who were perplexed by the new sport on their screens resorting to criticism and mockery.
In particular, some people brought attention to the attire that the professor and Olympian was wearing.
Folks on X (formerly Twitter) wrote that the 36-year-old was dressed like a “high school PE teacher”, and belittled the Australian Olympic team’s choice of polo shirt, sweatpants, and baseball cap.
Fortunately Gunn is not one to get knocked by negative comments online. Prior to competing she shared a quote on her social media encouraging followers to embrace their differences.
“Don’t be afraid to be different. Go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that’s gonna take you,” Gunn said.
And in response to the haters who were mocking her for donning the Team Australia kit, the professor in breakdancing shared a spicy Instagram Story on Saturday morning.
“Looking forward to the same level of scrutiny on what the bboys wear tomorrow,” she wrote.
Gunn also shared with reporters after the event that she was thrilled by the opportunity to wear the Team Australia uniform.
“I guess maybe being a bit older, I know how rare this opportunity is and I wanted to take the chance to wear the green and gold,” the viral athlete said.
“I don’t know why some of the other girls didn’t want to wear their kit. It was a real moment of pride for me to wear the Australian uniform, I was particularly excited for this shirt to have the Indigenous print on the arms.”
Breaking has already been removed from the slate of events to appear at the next Summer Olympics, Los Angeles 2028. And though its return as an Olympic event is uncertain, hats off to all the breaking athletes who got to compete on the world’s biggest stage!
The winner of the Women’s Breaking was Japan’s Ami Yuasa, followed by Lithuania’s Dominika Banevič in silver, and China’s Liu Qingyi with the bronze.
The Men’s Breaking event begins at 12am August 11, with Jeff Dunne’s first round against Ukraine’s Oleg Kuznietsov to begin at 12:13am.
The Paris 2024 Games can be viewed live and on-demand on Channel Nine and 9Now, or on Stan.
[Image: Getty]
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