Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn: The viral Aussie breakdancer who didn't score a single point

From Simone Biles history making comeback to the polarising opening ceremony, the 2024 Paris Olympics was loaded with talking points. And just when it seemed it was all ending, something truly incredible happened. Enter Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn.

The dancer was Australia’s representative in the first-ever appearance of breakdancing – or breaking – at the Olympic Games. The addition of the event itself left some scratching their heads, and even more after they saw what B-Girl 'Raygun' brought to the table.

In a highly competitive field of modern, interpretive hip hop dancing, 'Raygun' came in with some highly unorthodox moves, which included 'the sprinkler' and, perhaps most incredibly, a kangaroo dance.

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While we could go on to describe the whole performance, it’s really something you have to watch in real time. And a lot of people have! Since her performances on Friday, August 9, Rachael Gunn has arguably been the most talked about thing at the Olympics.

The public has been divided. While Raygun faced immense criticism for her performance, which failed to receive a single point from the judges, she has won a lot of hearts. Including the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who praised the 36-year-old for "having a crack", as reported by the Guardian.

So who is Rachael Gunn, and how did she get to the Olympics? Let’s take a quick look back at her journey so far.

Rachael Gunn was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, and grew up dancing, specialising in jazz and ballroom. She would take up breaking in her "mid 20s", as the South China Morning Post reported.

Immersed in the culture, in 2017 she completed her PhD on 'the intersection of gender and Sydney’s breaking culture'.  At this time she was competitively breaking and worked her way up to be Australia’s number 1 ranked B-Girl in 2020.

She participated in the World Breaking Championships held in Paris in 2021 and in Seoul in 2022. She qualified for the Paris Games through the Oceania Championships in October 2023.

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"I think a lot of people had doubted my ability to do it and maybe thought I was getting too old to be able to stay on top," she said, as reported by the South China Morning Post. "But I just kept pushing hard, I want to get better, and I want the scene to grow and get better."

Despite being highly experienced in the discipline, Gunn scored no points in her preliminary phase run at the Games. Feeling a little dwarfed by the skills of her rivals, she opted to do something a little different with her performances, taking inspiration from Australian wildlife. 

"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 in a lifetime to do that on an international stage?," she said, as the Independent reported.

"I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way," she concluded. 

The response to Gunn’s performance has been nothing short of sensational. While many have been outraged, she has endeared herself to perhaps just as many, including the wider Australian public, where she looks set to join the likes of speed skating gold medallist Stephen Bradbury as an Aussie sporting icon.

For her part, Gunn seems to have handled the attention well. Rather than shunning the spotlight, she was even seen dancing up a storm with Team Australia at the Closing Ceremony – being true to herself right to the end.

What did you make of Raygun's performance at the Games? Was it creative or cringe?

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