Raygun Breaks Her Silence On 'Alarming' Backlash For Viral Breakdancing Performance At The 2024 Paris Olympics
Rachael "Raygun" Gunn has opened up about her viral performance at the Breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
The Olympian quickly went viral for her performance during the event which scored a rare zero points. The 36-year-old was on the receiving end of jokes and mockery for weeks.
Now, Gunn is breaking her silence in her first sit-down interview with Network 10's 'The Project' about her life after the backlash.
During the interview, Gunn revealed she has not watched her performance in full, despite seeing brief clips of it, but "will watch it eventually."
'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon' aired a comedic skit three weeks ago with 'Saturday Night Live' alum Rachel Dratch, who plays Raygun. "I haven't actually watched the sketch because I don't think I am in a place to watch it," Gunn confessed.
In reference to Fallon, 49, she said she doesn't "know whether to hug him or yell at him."
Read more: Viral Olympic Breakdancer Raygun Accused Of Unethical Conduct, Manipulation In New Petition
During the interview, she also apologized for the negative attention that her performance brought to the Australian breaking community. However, she maintains that she is the best in her country at her sport because her "record speaks to that." She has held top rankings in the event in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Not only was Gunn mocked on social media following the event, she became the victim of speculation and rumors. Some suggested that she manipulated the Olympic selection process, but the rumor was shut down by the World DanceSport Federation. She called the conspiracy theories incredibly hurtful and the "energy and vitriol that people had was pretty alarming."
"As soon as I finished my rounds, my media liaison from the AOC said, 'Oh, there's a bit of a storm brewing on social media. You might want to go off socials.' I didn't understand the scale of it," Gunn said in the interview posted Wednesday. "I did preview some comments, and I was like, 'Oh, no,' and this kind of sick feeling started coming out."
She added how it was "really sad to hear those criticisms and I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can't control how people react."
