Just three months after her debut at the Paris Olympics, Australian breaker Rachael Gunn announced her retirement from breakdancing following backlash. The 37-year-old Sydney University lecturer caught everyone’s attention with her unorthodox moves in Paris, leading to a severe social media trolling. Some even questioned on what basis Gunn qualified for the Games.
Gunn, who is also known as B-Girl Raygun, failed to score a point in any of the three competition rounds. Among her unorthodox routines was kangaroo hop. Speaking to radio stadium 2DayFM, Gunn explained that she would have continued competing but couldn’t because of her experience post Games.
“I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was. I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now. I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there, and people will be filming it, and it will go online,” she said.
Gunn also detailed her horrific experience post Games in Paris on how she was chased by cameras through the streets and how she dealt with the public reaction to her performance. “That was really wild,” Gunn said in a TV interview for The Project on Australia’s Channel 10.
“If people are chasing me, what do I do? That really did put me in a state of panic. I was nervous to be out in public. It was pretty nerve-wracking for a while,” she added.
Earlier, Gunn defended her Paris Olympics qualification and also thanked others for support. “I won the Oceania championships. It was a direct qualifier,” Gunn said in a television programme. “There were nine judges, all from overseas. I knew my chances were slim as soon as I qualified.
“People didn’t understand breaking and were just angry about my performance,” she added. “The conspiracy theories were just awful and that was really upsetting. People are now attacking our reputation and our integrity — none of them were grounded in facts.”
Breaking made its Olympics debut in Paris. However, the sport is highly unlikely to feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics or in Brisbane 2032 as it is not scheduled in either of Olympic programmes.
