Off The Record

Olympics Breakdancer Went Viral After Shocking The Audience With Her Unusual Moves

Published on August 13, 2024

A 2024 Olympic breakdancer from Australia gained widespread attention on social media for her own routine.

The street dance form known as “breaking,” which got its start in New York in the 1970s, was added to the Olympic program for the first time ever.

The captivating dance form was added to the Games as a sport in an effort to draw in younger and more spectators, and it most definitely succeeded when Australian competitor Raygun, real name Rachel Gunn, performed on Friday, August 9.

Gunn, whose b-girl name is Raygun, shot to fame on the internet the moment she showed off her abilities during the competition.

The 36-year-old’s strange routines, which included standing on her head, rolling around on her shoulder, and jumping around the stage like a kangaroo, left social media fans scratching their heads.

“I could live my life and never come up with anything as funny as Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian Olympic breakdancer,” one person commented in one of the online replies posted by others.

Another user who seemed to admire Gunn shared on X (formerly Twitter): “I want Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian breakdancer possessed by the spirit of Julia Stiles in Save the Last Dance, to know that I am now her biggest fan and she should never stop doing whatever it is she’s trying to do.”

A third sweetly added: “There are so many jokes being made about Raygun, but I genuinely think she’s f**king fantastic and despite not knowing she even existed a day ago, I adore her and her backstory. what a wholly brilliant woman. I could watch her for days.”

Of course, there were a few sarcastic comments, as this user quipped: “There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008. Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move, this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold.”

The video of Raygun’s moves was captioned by someone else as “My five-year-old niece after she says ‘watch this!'”

“Australia did B-Girl Raygun dirty with this ugly-as-sin outfit. Lookin like she’s gonna ask if I want fries with that,” someone remarked.

Upon seeing the comments about her uniform – and routine – Gunn fired back on her Instagram story, writing: “Looking forward to the same level of scrutiny on what the bboys wear tomorrow.”

The dancer was a ballroom dancer before taking up breaking, and she holds a PhD in dance culture and breakdancing.

She is a 36-year-old lecturer at Macquarie University who has been breaking for 16 years. In 2021, 2022, and 2023, she will represent her nation in the World Breaking Championships.

Gunn, who lost all three of her round-robin matches against the USA, France, and Lithuania 18-0, 18-0, and 18-0, sadly received no praise from the Olympic judges. Her antics are already going viral, so it’s clear that she made a “creative” impression on stage.

“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?” Raygun said after her performance, per News.com.au. “I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way.”

The 36-year-old revealed that she still had a great time at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in spite of everything.

“Look, I came into the event kind of expecting that I wouldn’t get a vote,” she told Yahoo Sports after the event. “It was amazing. Such an amazing experience. What a stage, what an arena, what a crowd. Music was great. Like, oh, so, so grateful for the opportunity.”