Australian breakdancer Raygun announces retirement after the Paris Olympics

Australian breakdancer Raygun just announced that her first Olympics would be her last.

The 37-year-old Raygun announced on Tuesday, November 5, that she is retiring from professional competition after going viral 2024 Olympic Games in Paris performance. “I still break, but I don’t compete. I will not participate anymore, no,” said the athlete, real name Rachael Gunn, during an interview on the Australian channel The Jimmy and Nath Show.

Raygun said she planned to continue competing in the breakdancing world after the Olympics earlier this summer, but the response to her performance at the Games has made it difficult to do so.

“That seems very difficult to me to do now, to start a fight. I still dance and I still break, but that’s like in my living room with the partner,” she explained. “I think the level of scrutiny will be there and, you know, people will film it and it will go online. And it just won’t mean the same. It won’t be the same experience because of everything that’s at stake.”

While fans won’t see Raygun on the dance floor again anytime soon, she teased that she has “a number of projects going on behind the scenes.” She said: “It’s all kind of the same vibe of trying to bring more positivity, encouraging people to dance and have fun and be creative and be themselves, be their authentic self, whatever that is. look.”

Raygun was one social media sensation at the Paris Olympics after competing in the Games’ first-ever breakdancing event. She failed to score any victories but left an impression on the viewers with her unique dance moves.

However, her Olympic debut also drew criticism as some viewers compared her skill level to that of her fellow competitors. A petition The call for transparency in Raygun’s Olympic roster was launched by fans in August, suggesting she ‘manipulated’ her way onto Team Australia and took a spot from more deserving breakdancers.

The Australian breaking organization AUSBreak promptly stop rumors that Raygun cheated his way into the Olympic Games. “We condemn Raygun’s global online harassment and bullying,” the group wrote in a post August statement. “The pressure to perform on the Olympic stage is enormous, especially against the opponents in her specific group. We stand in solidarity with Raygun.”

Raygun broke her silence to the response later that month. “I really appreciate the positivity and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives. That’s what I hoped,” she said on August 15 Instagram video. “I didn’t realize that this would also open the door to so much hate, which has honestly been quite devastating. While I went there and had fun, I took it very seriously. I worked really hard during the preparation for the Olympic Games and I really gave it my all.”

She continued: “Everyone has been through a lot because of this, so I ask that you respect their privacy.”

Raygun went on to mention the reaction to her Olympic performance “alarming,” claims in a September interview with Australian Channel 10 TV that viewers were ‘uneducated’ about professional breakdancing.

“I am very sorry for the backlash the community has experienced, but I have no control over how people respond,” she stated. “Unfortunately, in Australia we just need a little more resources to have a chance of becoming world champions.”