Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, says her whole world has changed since she became an overnight celebrity at the Paris Olympics.
Gunn sent social media into a frenzy with her breaking performance in Paris as the sport made its debut at the Olympic Games.
She came under fire for kangaroo hopping, doing the sprinkler, sliding around the stage and wearing Australia’s team kit instead of streetwear.
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The subject of countless memes, Gunn became the subject of international ridicule and one of the biggest stories of the Olympics.
Debate has raged since her performance where she failed to score in any of her three battles at the Olympics.
In September, Gunn apologised, telling The Project: “I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced.
“But I can’t control how people react. Unfortunately, we just need some more resources in Australia for us to have a chance to beat world champions.
“I don’t think I’ll be competing for a while. Not really wanting to be in the spotlight, breaking, competing.”
Now in an interview with Stellar, Gunn has revealed how the Olympics controversy immediately changed her life and taken a toll on her.
“It’s been so hard to process,” Gunn tells Stellar exclusively.
“My whole world has changed. My identity has changed.
“My relationships have changed, for better or for worse. It’s in times like these that you
find out who your real friends are, unfortunately.
“And because things are still changing, it’s just impossible to wrap your head around. It’s hard to predict what it’s going to be like when I leave the house.
“It’s still a process because I’m having to prioritise my own health. I speak to my family when I can, but it’s hard for me to know the toll it’s taken on them because I think that will take a toll on me.”
The crux of the controversy centred around Gunn’s breaking moves and style being perceived as uncool.
There was also widespread disbelief at how Gunn had qualified to represent Australia. She won the 2023 WDSF Oceania Breaking Championships in Sydney, earning the prize of becoming an Olympian.
Gunn, who has previously explained she wasn’t as capable of acrobatic flips as other breakers, told Stellar her age has became a lightning rod for criticism.
“Our culture is very obsessed with age,” the 37-year-old said.
“I think it’s been a real sticking point for a lot of people: me essentially not knowing my place, what I should be doing with my time at this age; (in their view) it’s certainly not participating in that environment, even though I wasn’t the oldest there.
“I had a few people tell me on Facebook and on Instagram what I should be doing … that I should be picking the kids up from school.
“I saw a great meme that was like, ‘The world is hard on silly women’, with a photo of me.” “Women aren’t allowed to be silly,” she added.
“But I think if I was a man, I would have very quickly been given the larrikin title and people would have rallied behind me a lot more.”
Gunn is an academic at Macquarie University, where she completed a PhD in Cultural Studies. Her thesis was titled: “Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney’s Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl’s Experience of B-boying”.
It’s already been confirmed breaking won’t be returning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with cricket, baseball, flag football, lacrosse, squash and softball to be included.
It was decided breaking would be a one-and-done sport at the Olympics prior to the Raygun controversy.
It appears the breaking fraternity is trying to move on from the Raygun Olympics saga.
At a recent SXSW panel, the word Raygun was not mentioned once by professional breakers in a 50-minute SXSW Sydney panel discussion about the history of breaking.
The breakers acknowledged breaking styles were “subjective” and performances were difficult to judge using a strict criteria.
Gun said she had copped a lot of “hate”, and while the saga has taken a huge toll, she is determined not to feel ashamed.
“People really have tried to shame me,” Gunn said in the Stellar interview.
“This is a process that I’m working through, trying to resist that shame. I’m working through mental health stuff, seeing my psychologist, doing exercise when I don’t feel like it, doing breathing exercises.
“(My mental health) is now something that I have to look after – it’s being exhausted. It’s definitely taken a toll.
“There was so much hate and emotion that I needed to wait for everyone to calm down a bit.
“I think the haters want me to be locked away in a room, ashamed and quiet.
“Every time I leave the house, go out for dinner, go to the shops or do a fashion shoot and pop my head back up, it’s saying, ‘No, you did not bring me down. You did not succeed. I still stand by what I did. It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to be yourself. You don’t have the
power you think you do’.”
Gunn spent time with celebrities such as Richard Branson and Boy George after the Olympics, and she hinted at some new projects on the horizon.
“I’ve got a few new projects that I’m working on right now that I’m really excited about [that are] centred around self-expression and joyfulness,” she said.
“You should be hearing more about them in the next few months.”
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