Olympic breakdancer Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn retires after backlash: "Seems really difficult for me"

Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, known as Raygun, has announced her retirement from competitive breaking following backlash over her performance at the Paris Olympics.

“I’m not going to compete anymore, no,” Gunn said on Australia’s 2DayFM “The Jimmy and Nath Show.” “I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now — to approach a battle. Yeah, I mean I still dance, and I still break. But, you know, that’s like in my living room with my partner.”

She continued, “I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there, and people will be filming it, and it will go online. It’s just not going to mean the same thing, and it’s not going to be the same experience because of everything that’s at stake.”

Gunn gained viral attention after her performance in the women’s breaking competition at the 2024 Olympics in August, where she was eliminated without scoring any points. Her performance sparked numerous memes and received criticism from viewers for her unique moves against competitors such as the U.S.’s Logan Edra, Lithuania’s Dominika Banevič, and France’s Sya Dembélé. She also faced accusations of manipulating Australia’s Olympic selection process.

“It was really upsetting because I felt like I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was,” Gunn said on “The Jimmy and Nath Show.”

In August, Gunn addressed the criticism in a video message on her Instagram page. “When I went out there I had fun. I did take it very seriously,” she said. “I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics. I gave my all, truly. I am honored to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and been a part of breaking’s Olympic debut.”