Rachael Gunn, the Australian breakdancer who performed at the Olympics, has clapped back at the "scrutiny" she received after her performance.
Her b-girl name is Raygun, and she lost three round-robin battles, 18-0 all, against the USA, France, and Lithuania.
Her style of breakdancing went viral on social media, leading fans to mock her uniform as well. She wore an Australian Olympic tracksuit instead of streetwear like her competitors.
On Instagram, she hit back saying, "Looking forward to the same level of scrutiny on what the bboys wear tomorrow."
She became Australia's representative after she won last year's Oceania Breaking Championships.
She also shared a post from the Australian breaking team saying, "Don’t be afraid to be different. Go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that’s gonna take you.”
“All my moves are original. 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? I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way.”
Rachael has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture. Previously, she was a ballroom dancer.
She has been breakdancing for 16 years and has represented Australia at the World Breaking Championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
“After I’ve recovered, I’ll probably be writing about it."
She also spoke out about the uniform decision saying, "I guess maybe being a bit older, I know how rare this opportunity is and I wanted to take the chance to wear the green and gold."
“I don’t know why some of the other girls didn’t want to wear their kit. It was a real moment of pride for me to wear the Australian uniform, I was particularly excited for this shirt to have the Indigenous print on the arms.”
Her performance has not only been the inspiration for memes but has sparked headlines across the globe.
NBC New York wrote an article called, 'A breaking hero emerges: Meet Australia’s Raygun,' while Rolling Stone wrote, 'Australian Olympic Breaker ‘Raygun’ Loses Dance Battles, Wins Our Hearts.'
The International Olympic Committee took a gamble in introducing the sport in this year's competition. Now, the sport won't return for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles but should see a comeback for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.
The breaking was also lucky to have an introduction by Snoop Dogg for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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