Rachael “Raygun” Gunn is hanging up her breakdancing shoes.
The Australian competitive bgirl shared that her professional breaking career is over after receiving criticism over her 2024 Paris Olympics performance this summer. The dancer went viral for her unique type of breakdancing which was met with harsh backlash online. Gunn said that she would continue to dance but would not compete in professional spaces anymore.
On an Australian radio show, Gunn shared, "Dancing is so much fun, and it makes you feel good, and I don’t think people should feel crap about, you know, the way that they dance."
In August, the dancer's Olympic performance was highly criticized for moves like rolling on her back, spinning on her head with her feet still on the ground and a kangaroo dance, an original move Gunn created. People online questioned how Gunn qualified for the Olympics when she was not awarded points for her performances, leading to theories about Gunn being an "industry plant," NBC News reported.
Gunn told the radio show that the negative backlash and subsequent level of publicity led her to decide she needed to quit competitive breakdancing.
"I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there and the people who will be filming it and it’ll go online, it’s just not going to mean the same thing,” she said. “It’s not going to be the same experience because of everything that’s at stake."
The dancer drove the nail in the coffin of her future Olympic career, stating she would never compete again. She explained, "I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems a really difficult thing for me to do now."
Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture. “All my moves are original,” she told reporters after her performance. pic.twitter.com/8to8quMx9y
— Michael Nayna (@MikeNayna) August 10, 2024
