Australian Olympic breakdancer ‘Raygun’ returns with new moves after non-stop online memes
Australian break-dancer Rachael Gunn refuses to listen to trolls. (Getty)
“Raygun”, Australia’s Olympic breakdancer has returned with new dance moves after being the subject of non-stop online memes.
The country’s first Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn went viral online after debuting her unconventional moves at the inaugural Olympic breaking competition on 9 August.
The event saw two live DJs, with competitors undergoing three judged battles, involving two 60-second routines each, before eliminations and medals were awarded.
Athletes were judged on creativity, personality, technique, variety, musicality and vocabulary, which means the variation and quantity of moves. Sadly, Gunn didn’t earn any points in any of her three battles.
Ever since her performance, Gunn has been subjected to a slew of online criticism after failing to receive any points from the judges at the Olympics and was knocked out at the round-robin stage of the competition.
However, the star returned to give fans one last show in Paris. Footage captured by Olympic Australian diver Domonic Bedggood showed the 36-year-old breaker taking to the streets with some new moves alongside fellow athletes.
Appearing to dance to Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk”, Gunn — who was named the top-ranked B-girl by the Australian Breaking Association in 2020 and 2021 — showcased some of her now-infamous shapes. Captioning the video, Bedggood wrote: “Put it in the Louvre”.
Following her Olympic performance, Gunn told reporters: “All of my moves are original. 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.”
University lecturer Gunn was aware that she was no match for her competitors’ technical moves, explaining that she instead focused on her “strength” and “creativity”.
“What I wanted to do was come out here and do something new and different and creative,” she said.
“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get that in a lifetime to do that on an international stage?
“I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way.”
Japan’s Ami Yuasa took home the gold medal for the B-girls competition in Paris, while Banevič earned silver and China’s Liu Qingyi took home bronze for their respective performances.
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