Australian breaker Rachael Gunn has announced she will retire from competition, citing the viral response to her performance at the Paris Olympics.
Gunn – who is known as B-girl Raygun – failed to get on the scoreboard in all three of her competition rounds in August, with a routine that included unorthodox moves, such as the sprinkler and a kangaroo hop.
The 37-year-old university lecturer’s moves catapulted her to global attention and ridicule, spawned conspiracy theories about her qualification, and reignited criticism of breaking’s inclusion in the Olympics.
Gunn had initially planned to keep competing but said the saga had been so “upsetting” that she changed her mind.
“I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was,” she told local radio station 2DayFM on Wednesday.
“I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now.
“I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there, and people will be filming it, and it will go online.”
Gunn received a torrent of violent messages after the Olympics, and was the subject of an anonymous petition demanding she apologise. It falsely accused her and her husband of manipulating her selection at the expense of other Australian talent.
She was vigorously defended by Olympic officials, but her performance split opinion within the breaking community, with some saying she made a mockery of the sport.
It also revived questions over whether breaking – which debuted in Paris but is not on the programme for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles – should have ever been included in the Olympics, due to the creative nature of the genre, which doesn’t necessarily suit organised competition.
Gunn has previously said the backlash took the joy out of the sport for her, which she again alluded to on Wednesday.
“Dancing is so much fun, and it makes you feel good. I don’t think people should feel crap about the way that they dance.
“I still dance, and I still break. But, you know, that’s like in my living room with my partner!”
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