Viral Australian B-girl Raygun is retiring (so to speak)

After becoming an internet sensation and Halloween costume inspiration with her unorthodox performance at the Women's Breaking event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Rachael “Raygun” Gunn made headlines this week with the news of her retirement.

Raygun recently guest starred on a Sydney podcast, The Jimmy & Nath Show. When asked if she would take part in the Olympics again, she answered clearly “No”. She says: “I definitely wanted to keep competing, but it seems really difficult now to approach a fight… I still dance and I still take breaks, but it's like being in my living room. “my partner.”

The attention that came with the Olympics, much of it negative, was certainly huge for Gunn – she had previously mentioned that it was “hard to process everything.” In the podcast, she explains: “The level of control 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 is at stake.”

After headlines from AP News, Business Insider and other publications announced her resignation, Raygun appeared on The Project to set the record straight. In her words, it “got a little out of control.” She clarifies: “Because breaking culture is different, I will still dance, and I said that in the interview. I’ll still dance, I’ll still go to community jams.”

While you won't be seeing Raygun at elite breaking competitions any time soon – in part because breaking won't be at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics – you might spot them at training sessions in Sydney or at local events when they do you are in the area.

In the spirit of breaking, Raygun says, “Thanks for your messages, but I'm leaving anyway.”