Raygun to stop breakdancing competitively after viral Olympic debut

The break-dancer who went viral for not winning a medal at the Paris Olympics has retired from competing.

Rachael Gunn, who went by the name Raygun, said she will no longer compete in elite events, The Washington Post reported.

Gunn was a member of Team Australia in the competition, first held during the 2024 games. But lost all three of her rounds with a combined score of 54-0, CNN reported.

Her unique choreography was parodied and mocked on television shows and online.

“It’s been really upsetting. I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was,” Gunn said, according to CNN.

The Post reported her performance also became the fodder of conspiracy theorists and misinformation on how she even got to go to the Olympics.

One theory was that she was an “industry plant” to damage the sport, but breaking’s governing body said that at one point she had been the No. 1 female breakdancer in the world, Sky News reported.

Gunn told Australian media that she will still break-dance, also called break, but only in her living room, not on the competition floor.

At one point she said she had planned to go back to the competition stage but that changed, CNN reported.

Gunn realized she would have a difficult time returning because everything would be under the spotlight.

“People will be filming it and it would go online and it’s just not going to mean the same thing,” Gunn said.

The Olympics were not the first time she was on an international stage. Gunn competed in the world championships in 2021 and 2022.

She doesn’t just compete, she also is a university lecturer and has done research in breaking and street dance.

Breaking is not on the list of 50 events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The Olympics will be held in the City of Angels starting July 14, 2028.

It is also not on the slate of events for Brisbane, Australia, in 2032, Sky News reported.

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