Viral Australian breakdancer Raygun stands by her moves in first post-Olympic interview

Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has given her first interview since her viral performance earned her international infamy. Appearing via video on Australian talk show The Project, Raygun acknowledged that she’s had a tough time since her much maligned Olympic debut, but continued to defend her moves and insist that her critics just don’t know much about breakdancing.

“It has been honestly so amazing to see the positive response to my performance,” said Raygun, attempting to put an optimistic spin on the overwhelmingly negative situation. “I never thought that I would be able to connect with so many people in such a positive way.”

It’s surprising that Raygun’s Olympic performance apparently inspired enough positive reactions to galvanise her. The 37-year-old university lecturer became the subject of global criticism after she not only lost every round of her Olympic breakdancing battles, but did so with moves the vast majority of viewers considered laughably embarrassing. These included Australian-inspired moves such as hopping like a kangaroo.

Raygun’s reaction to the Olympic breakdancing backlash

Fortunately, Raygun said she wasn’t initially aware of the backlash to her Olympic performance, having been advised to avoid the internet shortly after her events. She also quickly got mental health support.

“As soon as I finished my rounds, my media liaison from the [Australian Olympic Committee] said, ‘Oh, there’s a bit of a storm brewing on social media, you might want to go off socials,'” Raygun told The Project. “And I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ I didn’t understand the scale of it.”

Her blissful ignorance didn’t last long though. Raygun got a “sick feeling” when she did eventually see what the internet was saying about her, which was further solidified, she said, when an Australian reporter questioned her about the backlash in the street.

“That really did put me in a state of panic for a while after that, and I was quite nervous being out in public because I just didn’t know what was safe, if anyone was going to recognise me [and] how they were going to respond to seeing me,” said Raygun.

She also revealed that while she typically doesn’t watch past battles regardless, it will be some time before she revisits her Olympic performances. She hasn’t seen late night host Jimmy Fallon‘s skit about her either.

“I don’t know whether to hug him or yell at him,” said Raygun, acknowledging that Fallon’s skit helped bring her to people’s attention. “I haven’t actually seen the sketch because I don’t think I’m in a place yet to watch it, but I will watch it at some point.”

Raygun: ‘It’s just a different approach in breaking’

Credit: Photo by Elsa / Getty Images

Raygun’s disappointing Olympic performance led many to question exactly how she was selected for the Australian team, with some even speculating she made it to Paris via underhanded means. Though she previously addressed such rumours in an Instagram video last month, Raygun took the opportunity to refute them once more on The Project, stating that she qualified by winning the 2023 Oceania Breaking Championships and hadn’t known any of the nine judges. 

“A lot of the responses though is also just due to people not being very familiar with breaking and the diversity of approaches in breaking,'” said Raygun. “It’s just a different approach in breaking. You have the athletics style breakers, you also have the more artistic style breakers, and all of them are very valid.”

Offering some insight into her Olympic strategy, Raygun said she chose to primarily focus on three of the five judging criteria: originality, vocabulary (“the range and repertoire of movement”), and musicality.

“I knew my chances were slim,” said Raygun. “I knew that I was going to get beaten and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was gonna do… I had to go with what I was good at, I had to go with my strengths.”

According to Raygun, her Olympic performance was actually fairly typical in the breakdancing community. Even so, she still hasn’t been free of admonishment from other breakdancers. While she expressed remorse for the backlash the breakdancing community has received, Raygun noted that she “can’t control how people react,” and proposed that Australian breakdancing needs more resources to be able to compete on the world stage.

“In the last year I have trained my hardest,” said Raygun. “Learning power moves in your mid-30s is not easy, let’s just say that! I have really put my body through it, put my mind through it. But if that’s not good enough for someone, what can I say?”

Raygun’s breakdancing future

Credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

In the interview, Raygun also briefly touched on discourse regarding the gentrification of breakdancing, though unfortunately she focused on her ethnicity rather than socioeconomic or academic concerns. The breakdancing subculture originated from disenfranchised Black and Puerto Rican youth in America. As such, seeing it become an Olympic event featuring a university academic kangaroo hopping rubbed many people the wrong way.

“I think even if it went to the second or third [place winners], that it still would have been a white girl representing [Australia],” said Raygun.

Second and third place at the 2023 Oceania Breaking Championships went to Molly Therese “Holy Molly” Chapman and Hannah Georgina Belet respectively.

“It’s been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again.”

Despite the global condemnation of her dance moves, Raygun still stands by them. When asked whether she genuinely believes she’s the best female breaker in Australia, the Olympian merely stated that she thinks her “record speaks to that,” then proceeded to list her breakdancing accolades.

“The record is there, but anything can happen in a battle,” Raygun told The Project. “It’s always about what happens on the day. That consistency shows my level.”

Regardless of this, we won’t be seeing Raygun at more breakdancing competitions any time soon. 

“It’s been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again,” she said. “That’s actually been tough. It was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress. I’m really happy that it gets to go back to being my medicine… I’m looking forward to breaking, but no, I don’t think I’ll compete for a while.”

Credit: Rene Nijhuis / BSR Agency / Getty Images

Unfortunately for Raygun, her interview with The Project doesn’t appear to have pacified her detractors. The overwhelming majority of commenters have reacted with derision, lambasting Raygun for refusing to own up to what was widely considered an embarrassing performance.

“The level of her delusion is Olympic!” commented YouTube user yopomiles.

“‘I know people weren’t going to understand my style’ nah girl no one expected you to flounder like a fish,” wrote MadelinFox18.

“She claims others ‘dont understand breaking’ when it’s clear she is the one who doesn’t understand breaking,” altruism123 posted.

“‘my record speaks to that…’ pure narcissism right there,” allmightyx7600 wrote.

“The Olympics is not about having fun,” said peachstars219. “The Olympics is about seeing the best of the world. Raygun is not the best of Australia.”