Viral Olympic breakdancer Raygun defends her performance
When breaking, or breakdancing, made its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the sport quickly had its breakout star, b-girl Raygun, a 36-year-old Australian college professor.
Raygun, whose birth name is Rachael Gunn, went viral after her performance Friday in Paris, where she took on b-girls in their late teens and early 20s with unique dance moves that quickly became the focus of memes and jokes on social media.
Gunn did not earn a medal in Paris, losing her three round-robin battles by a score of 54-0.
The online criticisms of Gunn's performance led her to defend her skills, telling reporters that what she brought to her performance was "creativity."
"I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best -- their power moves," Gunn said, according to ESPN. "What I bring is creativity."
"All of my moves are original," she continued. "Creativity is really important to me. I go out there, and I show my artistry. Sometimes it speaks to the judges, and sometimes it doesn't. I do my thing, and it represents art. That is what it is about."
On social media, some users dubbed one move by Gunn "the kangaroo," while others compared her dance moves to when a child asks you to watch their performance.
"I'd like to personally thank Raygun for making millions of people worldwide think 'huh, maybe I can make the Olympics too,'" one user wrote on X, alongside a photo of Raygun's Olympic performance.
The online critiques of Gunn's performance led Australia's Chef de Mission, Anna Meares, to issue public support Saturday for her performance.
"I love Rachael, and I think that what has occurred on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors, and taking those comments and giving them airtime, has been really disappointing," Meares said at a news conference, according to ESPN. "Raygun is an absolutely loved member of this Olympic team. She has represented the Olympic team, the Olympic spirit with great enthusiasm. And I absolutely love her courage. I love her character, and I feel very disappointed for her, that she has come under the attack that she has."
On Sunday, the head judge of the breaking competition in Paris defended Gunn, while the head of the World DanceSport Federation said officials are looking out for her "mental safety" after the online criticism.
"Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region," head judge Martin Gilian said at a press conference, according to The Associated Press. "This is exactly what Raygun was doing. She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo."
Sergey Nifontov, general secretary of the World DanceSport Federation, added of Gunn's mental health, according to the AP, "We offered (the) support of our safe-guarding officer. We are aware about what has happened, especially on social media, and definitely we should put the safety of the athlete, in this case, mental safety in first place. She has us as a federation supporting her."
According to her Olympics biography, Gunn is a former jazz and ballroom dancer who entered the sport of breaking through her husband, Samuel, who had been breaking for the past decade.
Gunn started breaking in her mid-20s and went on to become the top-ranked b-girl in Australia in 2020 and 2021.
Last year, she won the QMS Oceania Championships in Sydney to earn Australia's first-ever spot in the b-girl competition at the Olympics, according to her bio.
When not breaking, Gunn, who holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies, is a researcher and lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, where she studies the "the cultural politics of breaking," according to her university biography.
As both a breaker and a researcher, Gunn told the podcast "The [Female] Athlete Project" that her bag, "always has two main things, my knee pads and my laptop."
While in Paris, Gunn shared a photo of herself on Instagram in Team Australia's uniform along with the caption, "Don't be afraid to be different, go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you."
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