Australian breaker Raygun earns mixed reviews, praised for ‘courage’ and ‘character’ after viral performances at Paris Games

(CNN) — Rachael Gunn arrived in Paris as a competitive breaker excited to make her Olympic debut. She leaves an internet sensation, her performances viewed by millions across social media.

Gunn – also known as B-girl Raygun, or simply Raygun – is a 36-year-old university lecturer from Sydney, Australia, who balances her day job with her breakdance career, competing at events around the globe.

Recently, that took her all the way to the Paris Olympics, where 32 athletes – known as B-boys and B-girls – were competing at the Games for the first time.

And at the Place de la Concorde on Saturday, Raygun, kitted out in the green and gold tracksuit of Australia, showcased some of her moves across three round-robin battles: a kangaroo hop, a backwards roll and various contortions with her body while lying or crawling on the floor.

She failed to register a point in her battles against USA’s Logistx, France’s Syssy and Lithuania’s Nicka, losing 18-0 on each occasion. It’s fair to say that subsequent commentary on the internet wasn’t entirely polite about Raygun’s performances.

One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, called her routines “hilariously ridiculous,” while another questioned how she had made it this far. Even singer Adele took time out of her concert in Munich to question whether the whole thing was a “joke,” adding that it was “the best thing that’s happened in the Olympics.”

But Raygun is completely serious. A lecturer at Sydney’s Macquarie University, her research interests include breaking, street dance and hip-hop culture, while her PhD thesis focused on the intersection of gender and Sydney’s breaking culture.

She has represented Australia at the world championships in 2021 and 2022 before earning a spot at the Olympics via the Oceania championships last year.

“All my moves are original,” Raygun said after competing in Paris. “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.”

Many people have jumped to defend the Australian’s performances as unique and creative, despite not necessarily being rewarded by the judges.

“It’s all about originality and it’s all about bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” said Martin Gilian, the chief breaking judge at the Olympics, also known as MGbility.

“This is exactly what Raygun was doing, she got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo … She created some original moves which could be maybe funny or entertaining for others, but for us, she basically represented breaking and hip hop. She was trying to be original and bring something new to the table. From our perspective, that was nothing really shocking.”

Sergey Nifontov, general secretary of the World DanceSport Federation, said that he was “worried” by the response on social media, adding: “That should not happen in our world. Something is going in the wrong direction.”

Gunn started breaking competitively in her mid-20s having grown up practicing other forms of dance, including ballroom, jazz, tap and hip-hop. She was up against B-girls about half her age in Paris, explaining how it was an “amazing experience” and “a privilege to get this opportunity.”

That was evident based on her arrival at Sunday’s closing ceremony, where she received huge support from teammates and supporters during an impromptu performance on the street.

“If you don’t know Rachael’s story, in 2008, she was locked in a room crying being involved in a male-dominated sport as the only woman, and it took great courage for her to continue on and fight for her opportunity to participate in a sport that she loved,” Anna Meares, a former professional cyclist and Australia’s chef de mission, told reporters.

“That got her to winning the Olympic qualifying event to be here in Paris. She is the best breakdancer, female, that we have in Australia … 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.”

Breaking emerged on the streets of New York City in the 1970s and has since grown in popularity across the US and around the world.

It started as a form of creative expression among Black and Latino youth and is considered one of the key elements of hip-hop, along with rapping, DJing and graffiti art.

While many don’t view breaking strictly as sport, more an artistic expression, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had been searching for ways to attract younger audiences to the Games, adding skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing to the Olympic program.

However, breaking will not be staged at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, and it remains unclear whether the discipline will ever make a return at future Olympics.

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