Australian Breakdancer, Raygun, from 2024 Paris Olympics Retiring Following Viral Performance
Looks like everyone’s favorite Australian breakdancer, Raygun, is officially retiring from breakdancing. Raygun is the Olympic breakdancer who received backlash following her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn says she is done with competitive break dancing following the negative comments and backlash she received when her Olympic performance hit the internet. The 37-year-old dancer made an appearance on The Jimmy & Nath Show where she officially made the announcement.
Raygun, Australian Breakdancer, is Done
Gunn says that her backlash and the comments about her Paris performance sucked out all of the joy that she used to feel when competing. “I don’t think people should feel crap about the way they dance,” she said. “I still break, but I don’t compete. I’m not going to compete anymore.”
This year was the first time the world saw break dancing in the Olympics and the backlash was various as many reacted to those that competed in the sport. Many reactions discussed her dance moves, but also her race, as breakdancing is a style of dance with roots in the early New York hip-hop scene.
Following the backlash of this year, breakdancing will not be part of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Gunn says that she had plans to continue competing, but the Olympics were just a lot to handle with the continued backlash. “It was really upsetting because I felt like I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me — or who I was, who my partner was, my story,” she said.
Although she won’t be competing anymore, she does still plan to enjoy her life and dance when she wants… just not in a competition setting. “It’s “It’s still impossible to process,” she said.
We will see what the internet has to say about this one, but hopefully, people will be able to realize that their words do affect people more than they think.
