Australian breakdancer Raygun admitted the onslaught of feedback she’s received over her viral performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics has been “devastating.”
“I just want to start by thanking all the people who have supported me,” Rachael Gunn said in a Thursday Instagram video. “I really appreciate the positivity and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives — that’s what I hoped. I didn’t realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has, frankly, been pretty devastating.”
Gunn was a part of sports history when breakdancing was added as an athletic event to the Summer Games. And with that came a massive amount of attention from folks online, who specifically pointed out her performance. Many said she exhibited “zero talent” or thought she was trolling, while others made jokes about her interesting moves. Even Jimmy Fallon poked fun at her with Rachel Dratch on “The Tonight Show.”
“While I went out there and I had fun, I did take it very seriously; I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave it my all, truly,” Raygun continued in her video. “I’m honored to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of breaking’s Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved has just been phenomenal.”
Viral Australian breakdancer “Raygun” (@TheRealDratch) crashes Jimmy’s monologue! 🤣 #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/A1uaetO1sY
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) August 13, 2024
She also addressed the “allegations and misinformation floating around” about her score. Gunn explained: “Bit of a fun fact for you, there are actually no points in breaking. If you want to see how the judges thought I compared to my opponents, you can actually see a comparison with percentages across the five criteria on Olympics.com. All the results are there.”
In conclusion, Raygun said she’d appreciate if the media would stop contacting her friends and family over the situation — all while she enjoys a trip to escape the attention.
“I’m going to be in Europe for a few weeks for some pre-planned downtime,” she said. “But I’d really like to ask the press to stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community and the broader street dance community. Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this, so I ask for you to please respect their privacy.”
Unrelated to Gunn’s viral performance, breaking will indeed not be part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
