Getty Image / Ezra Shaw
Australian b-girl Dr. Rachel Gunn aka ‘Raygun‘ became the most viral story of the Paris Olympics when she failed to score a single point in the first-ever women’s breakdancing competition, getting swept by a combined score of 54-0.
The chatter surrounding Raygun has not died down since her meme-able performance in Paris. In fact, it’s only reaching a fever pitch as there is now a growing movement to investigate her Team Australia olympic selection in the form of a change.org petition that has picked up over 55,000 signatures with the petition’s creator alleging she manipulated the selection process.
Following the Paris Olympics, Raygun was treated like a national hero by Team Australia at the Closing Ceremonies. She became an overnight celebrity. But now there is speculation she’s “too upset to come home” after reports have surfaced that she stayed in Europe with her husband after the Paris Olympics. Personally, I’m inclined to believe it was a pre-planned vacation because it’s a 22-hour flight from Paris to Sydney, Australia but the Internet has other ideas…
A viral TikTok video with half a million views in 24 hours claims Raygun is “too upset” to return to Australia after becoming the laughing stock of the games:
@onestoponlineshoposos Replying to @mydogindyismybestfriend #update #raygun #situation #breaking #break #breakdance #breakdancing #olympics #notcoming #back #viral #fy #fyp
In the video, the person claims Raygun has “extended the taxpayer holiday.” I sincerely doubt that Australia is paying for her trip in Europe but if they are, more power to her for working the system. The Aussie in the video claims Dr. Gunn “shouldn’t have been there in the first place” and says she “took the place of several people who are so much better than her at breakdancing” which is a sentiment echoed by many but breakdancing is also highly subjective.
A News Australia article was also published to point out that she remained in Europe with her husband following the Paris Olympics. It states that Australia’s olympians all returned home but Raygun was noticeably absent from the flight full of Team Australia athletes.
That article does include some quotes in support of Dr. Rachel Gunn, quotes from Breaking head judge Martin Gilian who said the breaking community should “definitely stands behind her.” Gilian also said “Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region. This is exactly what Raygun was doing. She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo. But again, that doesn’t mean that she did really bad. She did her best. She won the Oceania qualifier.”
Australian Prime Minister Weighs In On B-Girl Raygun
Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, even chimed in saying “good on her and a big shout out to her. That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go. She’s had a go representing our country, and that’s a good thing.”
The prime minister went on to say “not every athlete who gets off that plane is bringing home a medal, but every single one of them is worth their weight in gold. They have just done Australia proud and they’ve done their best. Whether they’ve won gold, silver, bronze or just put in a performance, they’ve all done us proud.”
While it is evident that many in Australia stand behind her following her laughable performances where she hopped around like a kangaroo, it is probably not a good sign when the Prime Minister of Australia has to chime in and defend her because her performance was so awful.
As an American, it would be a dereliction of duty if I didn’t point out how Australia had some massive one-sided rivalry with Team USA throughout the Paris Olympics all until Raygun showed up in the Breakdancing competition. After that, American fans didn’t hear a peep from Australians online. That alone speaks volumes for how her performance is being viewed down under.
Ultimately, I’m convinced this is a Borat/Ali G. type situation.
There simply HAS to be some sociological experiment taking place here from the academic who has a Ph.D. in cultural studies but whose thesis focused specifically on breakdancing and was titled “Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney’s Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl’s Experience of B-boying.” This being some experiment rooted in academia is the only reasonable explanation I’ll accept at this point.