Australian Breakdancer 'Raygun' Retires From Competition, Citing Olympic Backlash

Rachael Gunn called the events of this summer "surreal."

Rachael "Raygun" Gunn in Dec. 2020. / Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

After a most unusual 2024, Australian breakdancer Rachael "Raygun" Gunn is saying goodbye to the sport she loves at the competitive level.

Gunn is retiring from breakdancing immediately, she told The Jimmy & Nath Show on 2Day FM—a radio station in Sydney.

“It’s just not gonna mean the same thing,” she said. “It’s not going to be the same experience because of everything that’s at stake.”

In August, Gunn competed in the inaugural breaking event at the Paris Olympics. She was shut out 18–0 in her three battles, and in a saga she called "surreal," the 37-year-old professor's moves drew online criticism and mocking around the world.

Now, as Gunn told the program, she is concerned that any future performances could be posted online.

“That seems a really difficult thing for me to do now, to approach a battle,” she said. “I mean, I still dance and I still break, but that’s, like, in my living room with my partner.”

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