Rachael Gunn, known as Raygun, has spoken to the media for the first time she represented Australia in Breaking at the Paris 2024 Games, appearing on Channel 10’s The Project on Wednesday night.
Olympic performance
Gunn did not make it past the Round Robin stage of the Olympic breaking tournament, losing all three of her battles and not receiving one point from the judges.
The 36-year-old’s routine was more interpretive than most, drawing on Australian imagery such as the hopping kangaroo.
Footage of her performances at the Olympics quickly went viral and the breaker, who holds a PhD in cultural studies and lectures at Macquarie University, was widely criticised.
Qualification rumours
In the wake of her Olympic performance, questions were asked online about the legitimacy of Gunn’s Olympic qualification and whether she was Australia’s top choice.
One petition on Change.org which claimed Gunn had manipulated the qualification process garnered over 40,000 signatures.
She addressed those claims, which have already been dismissed as untrue by the Australian Olympic Committee, by stating that her “record speaks” to the fact that she was Australia’s top candidate. She reinforced the fact that she won the Oceania Championships in front of judges she had never met to automatically qualify for the Olympic Games.
What they said
On the negative response: “There’s been a portion of very angry and, you know, awful responses, not only attacking me but attacking my husband, attacking my crew, attacking the breaking and street dance community in Australia, my family.”
On her future: “I don’t think I’ll be competing for a while. [I’m] not really wanting to be in the spotlight.”
Get more sports news delivered straight to your inbox via TDA’s sport newsletter. Sign up here.
