Australian breakdancer Raygun retires after Paris Olympics backlash

Australian breakdancer Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has announced she’s retiring from nonrecreational breaking pursuing the backlash for her show successful Paris.

The country’s entrant for breaking – the competitory mentation of breakdancing – astatine the 2024 Paris Olympics went viral this summertime with her unsocial instrumentality connected the sport.

At the time, galore societal media users mocked the 37-year-old Olympian for her unorthodox moves, which included a kangaroo hop.

However, others, including the vocalist Adele, praised the assemblage lecturer for bravely taking to the signifier and doing what she loves.

Gunn didn’t triumph immoderate points during the competition, and immoderate viewers were near questioning however she qualified for the conflict successful the archetypal place.

While the breaker defended her performance, she has since recovered it hard to proceed competing, suggesting to Aussie vigor presumption 2DayFM that she would nary longer execute professionally.

“I was going to support competing, for sure, but that seems a truly hard happening for maine to bash now, to attack a battle,” she told 2DayFm.

Raygun besides implied that her Olympics acquisition had a antagonistic effect connected her, adding: “Dancing is truthful overmuch fun, and it makes you consciousness good. I don’t deliberation radical should consciousness crap astir the mode that they dance.”

She added: “I inactive creation and I inactive interruption but that’s like, successful my surviving country with my partner.”

This twelvemonth marked the archetypal clip breaking has featured arsenic an Olympic sport, with a fig of planetary B-boys and B-girls taking to the signifier for a changeable astatine gold.

Raygun’s unconventional show helped to propel breaking into the spotlight portion raising the question of whether it should beryllium considered an Olympic athletics astatine all.

Another competitor, Afghanistan’s Manizha Talash, besides made headlines erstwhile she was disqualified from the contention for making a governmental connection with cape that work “Free Afghan Women”.

Ultimately, Japan’s Ami Yuasa went connected to assertion the apical spot successful the pistillate ‘B-girl’ event.

Following her stint successful Paris, Raygun opened up astir however her viral fame had a challenging interaction connected her beingness and said the antagonistic posts had been “devastating”.

Months aft the event, she besides apologised to the breakdancing community.

“I americium precise atrocious for the backlash that the assemblage has experienced, but I can’t power however radical react,” she told Network Ten’s The Project successful September.

Gunn besides suggested that radical chasing her pursuing her newfound fame near her successful a “state of panic”.

Breaking volition not instrumentality arsenic a athletics astatine the 2028 Olympics successful Los Angeles.