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Australian Breakdancer, Raygun, from 2024 Paris Olympics Retiring Following Viral Performance

Looks like everyone’s favorite Australian breakdancer, Raygun, is officially retiring from breakdancing. Raygun is the Olympic breakdancer who received backlash following her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rachael “Raygun”…

Australian breakdancer - Raygun of Team Australia competes during the B-Girls Round Robin - Group B on day fourteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Place de la Concorde

PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 09: B-Girl Raygun of Team Australia
competes during the B-Girls Round Robin – Group B on day fourteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Place de la Concorde on August 09, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Looks like everyone's favorite Australian breakdancer, Raygun, is officially retiring from breakdancing. Raygun is the Olympic breakdancer who received backlash following her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Rachael "Raygun" Gunn says she is done with competitive break dancing following the negative comments and backlash she received when her Olympic performance hit the internet. The 37-year-old dancer made an appearance on The Jimmy & Nath Show where she officially made the announcement.

Raygun, Australian Breakdancer, is Done

Gunn says that her backlash and the comments about her Paris performance sucked out all of the joy that she used to feel when competing. "I don't think people should feel crap about the way they dance," she said. "I still break, but I don't compete. I'm not going to compete anymore."

This year was the first time the world saw break dancing in the Olympics and the backlash was various as many reacted to those that competed in the sport. Many reactions discussed her dance moves, but also her race, as breakdancing is a style of dance with roots in the early New York hip-hop scene.

Breakdancing will not be part of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Gunn says that she had plans to continue competing, but the Olympics were just a lot to handle with the continued backlash. “It was really upsetting because I felt like I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me — or who I was, who my partner was, my story," she said.

Although she won't be competing anymore, she does still plan to enjoy her life and dance when she wants... just not in a competition setting. "It's "It's still impossible to process," she said.

We will see what the internet has to say about this one, but hopefully, people will be able to realize that their words do affect people more than they think.

Randi Moultrie is a Charleston, South Carolina native and has been in the radio industry for the last few years in Charlotte. Randi started with Beasley Media Group as an intern in 2019 and is now thriving in the digital world. Randi enjoys writing about her favorite foods (especially pizza) and all things fashion and travel. As one who loves taking trips to find new foods, it’s not surprising that she enjoys writing about both!

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