Olympic Breakdancer Raygun Parodied on ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'

Rachel Dratch as Raygun on Jimmy Fallon.
Rachel Dratch as Raygun on Jimmy Fallon. / NBC

No athlete at the 2024 Paris Olympics captured the imaginations of the internet quite like Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, a.k.a. "Raygun." No matter how you feel about her performance or how she was treated online, she was the breakout star of breaking's Olympics debut.

On Monday night during Jimmy Fallon's monologue he was joined by Rachel Dratch, his former co-star on Saturday Night Live. Dratch was dressed as Raygun and spoke only with her moves.

Gunn, who holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies, has seen a groundswell of support in the past few days and stands by her performance according to ESPN.

"All of my moves are original," she told reporters. "Creativity is really important to me. I go out there, and I show my artistry. Sometimes it speaks to the judges, and sometimes it doesn't. I do my thing, and it represents art. That is what it is about."

With the Olympics now over, Raygun feels destined to fade from our memories. Breaking will not be an event at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles as the IOC instead went with flag football, baseball, softball, cricket, lacrosse and squash.


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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.