Rachael “Raygun” Gunn quits breakdancing at the Olympics after viral backlash

Rachael “Raygun” Gunn is hanging up her breakdancing shoes.

The Australian athlete said her professional career is over after she received criticism over her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer. The dancer went viral for her unique brand of breakdancing, which was met with severe backlash online. Gunn said she would continue to dance but would no longer compete professionally.

On an Australian radio show, Gunn shared: “Dancing is so much fun and makes you feel good, and I don't think people should feel bad about the way they dance.”

In August, the dancer's Olympic appearance was heavily criticized because she rolled onto her back, spun upside down with her feet still on the floor, and did a kangaroo dance, an original move that Gunn invented. Questions were raised online about how Gunn qualified for the Olympics despite receiving no points for her achievements, leading to theories that Gunn was an “industrialist,” NBC News reported.

Gun told the radio show that the negative reaction and resulting huge publicity led her to decide to quit breakdancing competition.

“I think the level of control that will be there and the people filming it and it going online is just not going to mean the same thing,” she said. “It won’t be the same experience” because of everything at stake.

The dancer put the nail in the coffin of her future Olympic career, declaring that she would never compete again. She explained: “I definitely wanted to keep competing, but that seems really difficult now.”