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Raygun’s Loved Ones Raised Concerns Before Her Olympic Fiasco, Resurfaced Interview Reveals
Raygun’s loved ones had raised concerns before her infamous breakdancing performance at the 2024 Olympics, an interview she did before the Games revealed.
Rachel Gunn, also known as B-Girl Raygun, made headlines for scoring zero points in each of her battles at the world’s greatest sports event.
The 36-year-old’s moves fell short of the expectations of what judges and viewers considered an exceptional breaking routine.
Highlights
- Rachel Gunn's loved ones raised concerns before her breakdancing performance at the 2024 Olympics.
- Raygun's coach and husband criticized her for being too cautious in her breakdancing style.
- Her students were shocked to learn she was representing Australia at the Olympics.
In an interview with CNBC before the Olympics, Rachel shared that her family members initially disapproved of her passion for breakdancing.
RELATED:
Raygun’s loved ones initially raised concerns about her interest in breakdancing, as she revealed in a recently resurfaced interview
Image credits: Harry Langer/Getty Images
Image credits: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
The university lecturer was introduced to many different forms of dance when she was younger, including ballet and tap.
“They were happy that I was dancing again since so much time and money was spent when I was younger, but they would have preferred for me to take on a more feminine dance style,” she said.
Rachel was introduced to breakdancing when she was 20 by her then-boyfriend (now-husband and coach), who also raised concerns when she decided to take up the dance style.
“They would have preferred for me to take on a more feminine dance style,” the 36-year-old said before her Olympic performance
Image credits: Raygun_aus
“My coach has criticized me for being a little too cautious in breaking, but it has paid off. I’ve never been seriously injured in breaking — only twinges that were very easily fixed by physiotherapy.
“When I first started, I didn’t have the upper body strength, or the strength at all, required to break, and that’s something I’m still building over the last 13 years.”
Image credits: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Her students at Sydney’s Macquarie University were surprised to hear about her representing her country at the Olympics.
“In 2023, many of my students didn’t believe me when I told them I was training to qualify for the Olympics and were shocked when they checked Google and saw that I qualified.”
The Australian dancer made headlines for scoring zero points in each of her battles at the 2024 Olympics
Rachel “Raygun” Gunn competes in break dancing.
This will go down in the history as the top meme material from #Olympics2024Paris pic.twitter.com/5AOYOCUN2D
— Dr Shailesh Singh (@drShaileshSingh) August 13, 2024
One of Raygun’s motivations for stepping onto the Olympic world stage was to inspire future generations of dancers with her craft.
“We’re inspiring a whole new generation of people to get into breaking. This is so exciting for us, and we just want to share this culture, this dance, and this sport.”
Rachel represented Australia in 2021, 2022, and 2023 at the World Breaking Championships, and she is known as the country’s best female breaker, according to CNBC.
Raygun’s husband, who is also her coach, has criticized her “for being a little too cautious in breaking”
Image credits: raygun_aus
Following her much-talked-about performance, many netizens accused her of “manipulating” her way into the competition and even claimed she was in charge of the Australian breaking committee. A petition questioning the legitimacy and ethicality of her selection also circulated on social media.
These claims were dismissed by Australian breaking judge Te Hiiritanga Wepiha, who was part of the Olympic qualifying panel.
“All us judges talked about how she was going to get smashed, absolutely smashed [at the Olympics]… she knew it was going to be rough, so it’s actually courageous of her,” he said in an Instagram Live.
He wrote in the caption: “Dispelling some of the misinformation that is being spread. If you’ve been sharing that BS petition around just because it suits your narrative… shame on you!! Spreading misinformation discredits your cause. We need to do better.”
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Rachel said she had never imagined that “so much hate” would come out of her performance.
“I didn’t realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating,” she shared in a video posted on her Instagram.
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What do you think ?
𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦-𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 4 months ago (edited)
"Rachel said she had never imagined that “so much hate” would come out of her performance." You joined in a competition where only the very best of the best get to participate, put on a performance that made it look like you were deliberately mocking both the competition and the sport you were representing, made the entire concept of breakdancing look foolish, AND scored zero points. What exactly did you expect the opinion of the general public to be? Your entire performance (during AND after the Olympics) was a disgrace. But at least you made history - as the absolute worst Olympian ever to compete.
Jess Smith 4 months ago
well I mean it's possible there have been worse - other non-medalists who scored nil. But she's almost certainly tied for worst, unless someone managed a negative score.
Load More Replies...
Travis WH 4 months ago
I think it is a shame she took a legitimate dancers spot at the olympics. The sport had this one opportunity to gain legitimacy and press and she actively burned those hopes for the entire sport and its dancers. She and her team abused the funds and time of the Aus Olympic team and she and her team should pay all those funds back and issue an apology to the sport. What they did was selfish and rude to the people of Australia and Breakdancing.
Insomniac 4 months ago
So much this. So many have worked for so long to show the world the incredible athletic skill breaking actually takes. And she goes and trashes it all and pretends it some sort of personal triumph. You cannot tell me there aren't actually good breakers in Australia. Even if there aren't, they should have stayed out of that event. Breaking is most often a sport of poor, marginalised communities, and this privileged yt woman comes along and takes all the attention to herself. Legitimacy through the Olympics would have created more competitions and more opportunities for breakers who actually NEED those opportunities to make a living.
Load More Replies...
- 4 months ago (edited)
She really should have treated breakdancing as a fun hobby instead of trying to compete in a high-profile event. That would have made it easier to justify a lack of risks. Lots of people do things badly for fun without the expectation of admiration. Part of the backlash is someone else may have truly deserved to represent Australia.
𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦-𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 4 months ago (edited)
"Rachel said she had never imagined that “so much hate” would come out of her performance." You joined in a competition where only the very best of the best get to participate, put on a performance that made it look like you were deliberately mocking both the competition and the sport you were representing, made the entire concept of breakdancing look foolish, AND scored zero points. What exactly did you expect the opinion of the general public to be? Your entire performance (during AND after the Olympics) was a disgrace. But at least you made history - as the absolute worst Olympian ever to compete.
Jess Smith 4 months ago
well I mean it's possible there have been worse - other non-medalists who scored nil. But she's almost certainly tied for worst, unless someone managed a negative score.
Load More Replies... Travis WH 4 months ago
I think it is a shame she took a legitimate dancers spot at the olympics. The sport had this one opportunity to gain legitimacy and press and she actively burned those hopes for the entire sport and its dancers. She and her team abused the funds and time of the Aus Olympic team and she and her team should pay all those funds back and issue an apology to the sport. What they did was selfish and rude to the people of Australia and Breakdancing.
Insomniac 4 months ago
So much this. So many have worked for so long to show the world the incredible athletic skill breaking actually takes. And she goes and trashes it all and pretends it some sort of personal triumph. You cannot tell me there aren't actually good breakers in Australia. Even if there aren't, they should have stayed out of that event. Breaking is most often a sport of poor, marginalised communities, and this privileged yt woman comes along and takes all the attention to herself. Legitimacy through the Olympics would have created more competitions and more opportunities for breakers who actually NEED those opportunities to make a living.
Load More Replies... - 4 months ago (edited)
She really should have treated breakdancing as a fun hobby instead of trying to compete in a high-profile event. That would have made it easier to justify a lack of risks. Lots of people do things badly for fun without the expectation of admiration. Part of the backlash is someone else may have truly deserved to represent Australia.
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