Australian breakdancer Rachael "Raygun" Gunn has spoken out for the first time since competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, saying what transpired afterwards had felt “like a really weird dream" that she was waiting to awake from.
“I'm still in the process of being able to describe how I feel,” she said in her first television interview since becoming a household name in Australia.
Her moves went viral after competing in the group stage of the competition in France but failing to progress any further.
Australian Olympic breaking athlete Rachael "Raygun" Gunn is yet to return to Australia following the Olympics. Source: Getty / Cameron Spencer
An interview with the 36-year-old b-girl and academic, who is yet to return to Australia following the Olympics, aired on The Project television show on Wednesday night.
Gunn was
, where the sport made its Olympic debut.
She scored zero in her three breaking battles and her performance, which included moves such as the now-famous "kangaroo hop", went viral online and drew both praise and ridicule.
Global attention
Gunn said she had not initially been aware of the scale of global attention as the Australian Olympic Team’s media officer had suggested she “stay off socials for a bit”.
“I did preview some comments and I was like, 'Oh, no,' and this kind of sick feeling started, started coming out, I was like, 'Oh, goodness! What has happened?'"
Gunn said she had received support for her mental health and was still processing what she described as a “pretty wild ride".
She said after being chased by journalists in Paris the day following her performance she went into a “state of panic".
“I was quite nervous being out in public 'cause I just didn't know what was safe, if anyone was going to recognise me, how they were going to respond to seeing me,” Gunn said.
The moment that made her feel like the situation was really “out of control” was when she heard about the sketch about her on the Jimmy Fallon Show.
“I don't know whether to, like, hug him or yell at him!"
Breaking styles
Gunn said she put much of the criticism of her dancing down to "people not being very familiar with breaking and the diversity of approaches in breaking".
"You have the athletic-style breakers and you also have the more artistic-style breakers and all of them are very valid.”
"I had to go with my strengths, so in the judging criteria, you've got execution, technique, originality, vocabulary, range and repertoire of movement, and musicality.
"I thought I would focus on these last three, but it just wasn't enough to tip the scales.”
Conspiracy theories
While theories about her manipulating the selection process to get to the Olympics took hold online, the Australian Olympic Committee responded to say Gunn's selection had been "legitimate",
“None of them were grounded in any kind of facts," she said.
"People still don't believe the truth, but we do live in a different world now, so I think that's just going to be part of our reality unfortunately.”
The Project host Waleed Aly asked Gunn if she genuinely thought she was the best female breakdancer in Australia, to which she replied: "My record speaks to that, I was the top-ranked Australian b-girl in 2020 and 2022 and 2023."
While many in the breaking community have defended Gunn's performance, not everyone has spoken kindly about her abilities.
“It is really sad to hear those criticisms and I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced," she said.
"But I can't control how people react."
Slim chances
Gunn said she knew her chances going into the Olympics would be "slim".
"As soon as I qualified, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, what have I done?!' Because I knew that I was gonna get beaten and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was gonna do,” she said.
"Historically, unfortunately, we [Australia] haven't had the best track record of winning World Championships, so, you know, I don't think that's just on me."
Rachael "Raygun" Gunn's kangaroo hop has become a meme around the world. Source: Getty / Ezra Shaw
Gunn talked about trying to get more people already in the breaking scene to take part in competitions in Australia and said with more resources, Australia could have a better chance to field breakdancing world champions.
An alarming level of vitriol
Gunn said the vitriol that some people showed to her online was "pretty alarming".
She said there had been "a portion of very angry and awful responses, not only attacking me but attacking my husband, attacking my crew, attacking the breaking and street dance community in Australia, my family," she said.
However she said there had been both "ups and downs" and she preferred to focus on positive attention.
"I never thought that I would be able to connect with so many people in such a positive way, so, that has been just so amazing."
Raygun's future in dancing
Gunn said she had found it tough to dance since the backlash and did not think she would be taking part in any breakdancing competitions any time soon.
“It was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress,” she said.
