Raygun quits competitive breakdancing after Paris Olympics backlash

The Australian, ridiculed for her kangaroo hops and mediocre people astatine the games, says competing connected the breakdancing level has go ‘really difficult’ for her.

Australian breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has announced her status from competition, citing a “really upsetting” backlash pursuing her show astatine the Paris Olympics.

Raygun, 37, became thing of a planetary laughing banal aft her unorthodox routine, including kangaroo hops and imitating a sprinkler, failed to impressment the judges astatine the games.

Her moves were copied connected late-night speech shows and her unfashionable greenish tracksuit was mercilessly parodied online.

Gunn told Sydney vigor she was inactive breaking but not competing.

“I’m not going to vie immoderate more,” she told Australian vigor presumption 2DayFM connected Wednesday.

“I was going to support competing, for sure, but that seems truly hard for maine to bash present to attack a battle.

“Yeah, I mean I inactive dance, and I inactive break. But, you know, that’s similar successful my surviving country with my partner.

“It’s been truly upsetting. I conscionable didn’t person immoderate power implicit however radical saw maine oregon who I was.”

Conspiracy theories abounded to explicate however the assemblage lecturer had adjacent made it to the Australian Olympic team.

Gunn, an overnight sensation, mislaid each 3 of her round-robin battles by a combined people of 54-0 erstwhile breaking made its Olympic debut astatine the Place de la Concorde.

An online petition that accused Gunn of manipulating the qualification process to gain her Paris spot attracted 50,000 signatures earlier it was removed astatine the petition of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

The AOC besides refuted a assertion that Gunn’s husband, Samuel Free, who is besides her coach, was progressive successful her selection.

Gunn said the “conspiracy theories were wholly wild”.

“But I conscionable effort and enactment connected the positives and that’s what gets maine through,” she added.

“The radical that person similar [said], ‘you person inspired maine to spell retired determination and bash thing that I’ve been excessively shy to do. You’ve brought joy, you’ve brought laughter. You know, we’re truthful arrogant of you.'”

While galore lampooned her show connected societal media, Gunn won enactment from others, including her chap Australian Olympians and adjacent the country’s premier minister.

Raygun did person the past laughter successful September erstwhile she was concisely elevated to the top of the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) rankings.

The WDSF named her the fig 1 women’s breakdancer based connected winning the Oceania Championship, 1 of lone a fewer events held that counted towards the rankings successful the run-up to the Olympics.

Breaking was dropped from the Olympic programme for the 2028 Games successful Los Angeles. Gunn said she would not see coming retired of status if the creation athletics returned to the games.