After becoming perhaps the most famous Olympian of Paris 2024, Australian b-girl Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has finally responded to the substantial positive and negative attention that has come her way.
She broke her silence on Channel 10 talk show The Project to shed light on her experience following the Olympics, respond to the criticisms, and look to the future.
Olympic aftermath
The day after her fateful performance, Raygun was literally chased down by reporters. She says it put her into “a state of panic,” making her nervous to even go out—but it was just the beginning.
Clips of Raygun’s moves have racked up millions of views, and her Instagram page has ballooned to over two hundred thousand followers. Jimmy Fallon even featured “Raygun” (played by Rachel Dratch) in a sketch on The Tonight Show. The real Rachael Gunn doesn’t know she’d like to “hug him or yell at him.”
Regardless of how Raygun eventually decides to view it, the overwhelming attention has taken a toll. She mentions that she is getting mental health support and staying off the internet, as it has been “hard to process it all.”
“People don’t understand breaking”
While videos of her have been watched by countless viewers around the world, Raygun herself has not watched her own Olympics footage. According to her, this is nothing out of the ordinary for her.
In the Channel 10 interview, Raygun says that some people don’t understand the diversity of approaches in breaking. Unfortunately for Raygun, her chosen approach was not a viable competitive strategy.
However, those who criticize her for not breaking or taking it seriously are mistaken. Her performance was the worst in her category, sure, but she was certainly breaking and giving it her best shot. It simply wasn’t at the international level.
Conspiracy theories
Beyond the hate she received for failing to win a single judge vote, conspiracy theories about how Raygun qualified for Paris 2024 also emerged. At one point, there was a petition calling for an official investigation.
“None of [the theories] were grounded in any kind of facts,” Raygun tells Channel 10. The Australian Olympic Committee also released a statement debunking false claims, stating Raygun was “selected in the Australian Olympic Team through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process.” Gunn says her record speaks to her credibility as a competitive breaker: she was the top ranked Australian b-girl in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
To provide some perspective, Australia has historically never been a strong region in breaking, and Raygun acknowledges the need for more resources “for us to have the chance to be world champions.” B-boy Olympian J-Attack is one promising example of Australia’s newer generations looking to reach greater heights.
What’s next for Raygun?
Not surprisingly, the unsuspecting star is planning to stay out of the spotlight—Raygun will not be competing for the foreseeable future. However, she would like to keep dancing, letting it be her “medicine” again after it became her source of stress.
Vitriol and hate might make more headlines, but there are those who express positive sentiments about Rachael Gunn in this wild time. Australia’s Olympians danced with Raygun in solidarity at the Paris 2024 closing ceremony, and many have given her credit for showing her spirit, or at the very least, making us crack a smile.
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