Viral Breaker Raygun Clarifies Her Comments On Retiring From ...
Australian dancer Raygun is speaking out after she said she would no longer compete in breaking, the improvisational style of dance that had a breakout moment during the 2024 Olympics.
Raygun, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, made waves after she competed in the women's breaking competition in Paris this summer, and faced online ridicule for her performance.
The 37-year-old B-girl appeared on the Jimmy & Nath Show on Nov. 5, and addressed whether she would compete in the Olympics again in four years, even though breaking is not on the list of Games at the 2028 Olympics.
"I'd still break, but I'm not going to compete anymore," she said. "I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult thing for me to do now, to approach a battle ... I mean, I still dance and I still break but, that's like in my living room with my partner."
She cited a "level of scrutiny" would exist in future competitions that hadn't in the past.
"People will be filming it and it will go online, and it's just got 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."
Following the interview, she appeared on Australia's The Project on Nov. 7 to clarify her comments.
"I was talking about competing, and yeah, I don't really see myself competing anymore. And then, like, 'Global news: Ray Gun is retiring,' and it just kind of has gotten a little bit out of hand," she said.
Raygun then joked that it was actually Australian newscaster Ray Hadley who was retiring, who coincidentally announced his retirement on Nov. 6.
"Raygun's not retiring," she said. "But I think I mean, because it's different in breaking culture, I'm still going to dance, and I said that in the interview. I'm still going to dance, I'm still going to go to community jams. I'm still probably going to get down and and dance and enter a community jam, things like that."
"But in terms of those elite competitions, and the Olympics, which by the way, breaking is not even in the Olympics in the next one, so it kind of turned into a really big thing today," she added.
The decision to not include breaking in the 2028 Olympics was actually made in 2022, when the the International Olympic Committee announced 28 sports had been approved for the LA Games -- leaving breaking off of the list.
Five additional sports were approved in 2023, which did not include breaking.
World DanceSport Federation, the governing body of breaking, released a statement ahead of the Paris Games in October 2023.
“While profoundly disappointed with the LA28 decision, the WDSF is proud of all that it has accomplished, together with the breaking community, in an extremely short amount of time,” the federation said, noting the organization’s “strong” relationship with the IOC.
The WDSF added it was working to ensure that breaking would be included at the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Australia.
A LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games spokesperson told TODAY.com in August the decision to not include breaking “came with a great deal of consideration and utmost respect for the sport, its athletes and fans.”
“While LA28 recognizes the value that breaking can bring to the Olympic Movement, we ultimately proposed a holistic and balanced package of new sports that prioritizes the ability to showcase quintessential American sports alongside influential global sports,” the spokesperson said.
“The LA28 Olympic sports line-up also highlights the unique opportunity to co-create with major professional leagues, while offering a platform for new sports and new athlete communities to compete on the global stage in 2028,” the spokesperson added.
While speaking on The Project, Raygun thanked her fans who had sent her nice messages about her exit from the sport, but emphasized: "I'm still going."
Anna Kaplan
Anna Kaplan is a news and trending reporter for TODAY.com.
