Raygun has resurfaced with her Australian teammates ahead of the Olympic Games closing ceremony – and been treated like a cult hero after busting out more of the moves that saw her become a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons.
The breakdancer, a 36-year-old married university lecturer whose real name is Rachael Gunn, has kept a low profile after her disastrous performance in the inaugural women’s competition saw her make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
But she joined her fellow Olympians in a heartwarming appearance at Sunday’s closing ceremony, with video footage showing her showing off her iconic moves to huge ovation from her Australian teammates.
She was also lifted onto the shoulders of Aussie rower Angus Widdicombe, where she mimicked her infamous kangaroo dance move that sent fans across the world into hysterics.
A number of high-profile figures have come to Gunn’s defence in the wake of her performance, including Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, who credited her for putting her best foot forward during the routine.
‘Raygun had a crack, good on her, and a big shout out to her,’ he told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday.
‘That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go. She’s had a go representing our country, and that’s a good thing.
‘Whether they’ve won gold medals or just done their best, that’s all we asked for. It’s the participating that is really important.’
Gunn lost all three of her round-robin battles by a combined score of 54-0 and admitted post-event that she couldn’t compete athletically with the tricks and spins of her younger opponents.
Viewers were divided, with some praising Raygun for her ‘have a go’ attitude and approach to the Olympics.
‘Hahaha that’s cool…. Good on her,’ one posted.
‘I would agree Raygun’s heart WAS in it. Her love for the art sincere. Her execution not so much, it made me think that there must not be a lot of Bgirls in Australia,’ pointed out another viewer.
‘You know what yep her performance wasn’t the best but at the end of it she is going to make money out of this and be in the media for a while. Guess at the end of the day she will have a win,’ added another.
Others were left fuming.
‘It’s actually not funny! Her antics, pretend job and fluff PHD would have cost tax payers many hundreds of thousands of dollars, over the years,’ raged one viewer.
‘Such a joke. These Woke feminists put them selves first over talent. Could of promoted a child’s dreams but instead they chose them selves, including the people that signed off on her,’ added another.
‘If this Raygun lady turns out to be a comedian who somehow blagged her way through qualifiers and all the way to the Olympics, and was bad on purpose, it will be one of the greatest bits ever achieved,’ posted another.
Previously Australian Chef de mission Anna Meares had slammed ‘keyboard warriors’ for their bullying of Raygun.
Olympic champion Libby Trickett applauded Meares’ comments, sharing them on Instagram with the caption, ‘Thank you Anna Meares for being the grown up in the room’.
‘What I wanted to do was come out here and do something new and different and creative – that’s my strength, my creativity,’ she said.
Gunn has published a doctoral thesis entitled ‘Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney‘s Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl’s Experience of B-boying’.
The thesis questioned why so few female participants were part of the male-dominated scene but spoke of the sport as a ‘space that embraces difference’.
A leading breakdancing judge has since explained why Gunn failed to score a single point during her miserable effort at the Games.
Judge MGbility expressed sympathy for the Aussie who failed to score a single point.
‘I feel personally very sorry,’ MGbility told News Corp.
‘The breaking and hip hop community definitely stands behind her. She was just trying to bring something new, something original and something that represents her country.
‘We stay with her. We have five criteria in the comparative judging system. Just her level was maybe not as high as the other competitors.
‘Again, we’re using a comparative judging system. Her competitors were just better but it doesn’t mean that she did really bad. She did her best.’
Gunn hopped like a kangaroo, yawned at an opponent and performed the sprinkler, a routine that MGbility felt reflected Australia as a nation.
‘She was representing Australia and Oceania and did her best,’ she said.
‘She won the Oceania qualifier officially. If some people are wondering how she got into the Olympic Games, she qualified from her region.
‘Unfortunately for her, the other b-girls were better. That’s why she didn’t score any votes in her rounds.
‘Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table from your country or region and this is exactly what Raygun was doing.
‘She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was you know – kangaroo. The animal.
‘For breaking, when you look for innovations or originality, you always search outside of dancing. Martial arts, how the animals move, anything.’
