What To Know About Controversial Olympic Breakdancer Rachael Gunn

For the first time ever, breaking — sometimes referred to as breakdancing — made its grand debut as a sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Everyone knew this decision would make history, but who could have guessed just how much buzz it would stir up at the competition? On August 9, one athlete in particular, Rachael Gunn, better known by her stage name Raygun, stole the spotlight with her unconventional and subpar moves.

Gunn, at 36, was representing Australia and found herself up against competitors much younger than she. In the first round, which consisted of three dance battles, Gunn failed to score a single point, ending the round with a firm zero. Needless to say, she didn't qualify for the next segment. However, Raygun's poor scores soon proved to be the least of her worries as her unique dance moves went viral, making her the brunt of demeaning jokes worldwide. But as more details come to light, it's clear that there's so much more to Raygun's story than meets the eye.

When Rachael Gunn isn't breaking, she's a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, where she lectures in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Literature, and Language. Gunn also has a PhD, which she obtained in 2017 in Cultural Studies from the university where she lectures. The Olympian turned her passion for dance into her academic profession and secured at least one grant in the field. In 2022, she and another performer scored $20,278 to study "Spaces for Street Dance."

Speaking to an interviewer at the Macquarie University Faculty of Arts on the importance of her project, Raygun said that she was "trying to use this platform to say something artistically –- about movement, about creativity, about the possibilities of the body." Her focus on creativity and making her own steps could explain the viral Kangaroo move that went viral during the Olympics. The dancer had one leg hung up and both hands bent to mimic the hands of a kangaroo. Top points for creativity. Skill? Not so much.

Rachael Gunn's interest in breaking dates back to the early 2000s, when she met her now-husband, Samuel Free. Fun fact: Free is also a breaker known as "Sammy The Free" and has won a decent amount of recognition in Australia's dance world. Gunn shared with the Sydney Morning Herald: " I was introduced to it by my boyfriend, who's now my husband and my coach."

She explained that it took her a few years to be actually able to dance because she had to train to build her upper body strength and because there were so few women in the sport. In a chat with Macquarie's The Lighthouse, she recalled the first time she saw a woman dancing: "Everyone was jumping into the middle and jamming, and she was the only girl, and she kept jumping in too. That moment stood out for me, and I thought, 'I can do this too.'"

When the news of breaking being included in the Olympics was announced, Gunn's husband had a shot at representing Australia. However, he suffered a knee injury and was unable to compete. Instead, he chose to coach his wife for the qualifying competition.

Contrary to the misinformation going around, Rachael Gunn actually earned the chance to dance at the Olympics. To do so, she had to compete against other female breakers, or B-girls, at the Oceania Breaking Championships. Speaking to the Guardian, Gunn explained how taxing that had been and how she almost lost. Days before the competition, the dancer experienced a new level of strain, leading to a tense headache and body pains.

Although she did her best to conceal it, she and her trainer-husband noted that she had missed some steps and made other mistakes that were undetectable to the crowd. "Nobody knew except Sammy. I turned to him at the end of the final, and I was like, 'What do you think?' and he's like, 'You got very lucky'".

After her flop at the Olympics, several internet users circulated a video of Raygun and her rival, Holy Molly, at the Oceania Breaking Championships. While the general agreement is that neither dancer was Olympic level, most commenters seem to agree that Molly was better than Gunn.

One of the loudest and harshest criticisms that Rachael Gunn has received was from fellow academic Megan Davis, the vice chancellor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Davis claims that Gunn failed intentionally and was disrespectful since taxpayers had paid for her to go to the Olympics and to study breakdancing. "Getting zero points on purpose in three rounds for an academic study subsidized by the taxpayer both at a university and Olympic level isn't funny and isn't 'having a go. [It's] disrespectful to other competitors" (via New York Post). She also accused the Olympian of not caring about anything and trying to redeem herself with a "fun Aussie gal" stereotype.

Interestingly, The Australian debunked Davis's claims and revealed the truth about how much Raygun made as an Olympic athlete. In reality, she didn't receive any grants for the Olympics besides her flight fare, which was paid for by the Australian Olympic Committee. Davis has now locked her X account. Many people have jumped to Raygun's defense, including one of the judges, Martin Gilian, who is also a dancer. He commended Gunn for her creativity and noted that her Kangaroo move was inspired by her country but pointed out that her opponents were simply better.

Following the harsh backlash, Rachael Gunn has spoken up about her performance, explaining that she knew the other dancers were better than she was. "I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best — their power moves. What I bring is creativity" (via ESPN).

According to Gunn, her creativity remains her strongest point. "All of my moves are original. 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."

Thanks to the online bullying that has resulted from her performance, there have been calls to monitor the professor's mental health. Per NBC New York, the World DanceSport Federation has even reportedly reached out to Gunn, offering her supportive tools to help her mental health amidst the ridicule. Sergey Nifontov, the secretary of the organization, urged the public to prioritize the athlete's health above all else. "She has us as a federation supporting her."