Raygun, the Australian breakdancer who went viral for her performance at the Paris Olympics this summer, has announced that she is retiring from competing.
Rachael Gunn shared the news of her retirement on Australian radio this week, explaining her decision to retire from “Breaking” came after she received a strong reaction, which included criticism and backlash for her performance. She added that the possibility of future performances being filmed and put online is what inevitably led her to retire.
“It’s just not gonna mean the same thing,” Gunn said on Australia’s 2DayFM The Jimmy and Nath Show. “It’s not going to be the same experience because of everything that’s at stake.”
Breaking was a new sport at the Olympics this summer, and during her competition, Gunn was shutout, 18-0, in each of her three round-robin battles.
Questions were raised about her performance and qualifications to be at the Olympics. Clips of her dancing were also made into memes that have since gone viral.
“It’s surreal, and it’s still impossible to process,” she said.
Gunn, who won the Oceania Breaking Championships last year, was asked if she would possibly perform in another four years at the Olympics, to which she quickly answered no, shutting down any potential return to the sport.
“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,” Gunn said.
She went on to say that her decision to retire didn’t come immediately, as she still expected to continue competing after the Paris Olympics ended.
“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.”
Breaking won’t be a part of the 2028 Los Angeles Games after the Olympic committee decided to cut it for future games.