The infamous Olympic debut made by Australian breakdancer Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn had audiences scratching their heads and wondering how she was chosen to represent Australia and about her background in breakdancing.
Now that people have seen videos of her husband and coach, the answer has become a little more clear to some harsh critics.
Introducing Raygun’s coach, Samuel Free, who is known in the breakdancing world as Sammy The Free.
Samuel and the Australian Olympian, 36, have been married for years, and his influence on her breakdancing is undeniable.
“He may not be performing, but his mark will be in all my moves,” she said about her husband.
Australian breakdancer Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn’s infamous Olympic debut left audiences questioning her selection and her training
Following her notorious Olympic debut, Samuel has also become a viral sensation as videos of his own breakdancing performances in Australia resurfaced online.
The clips show him executing a series of peculiar moves that have left the internet bemused. From flinging himself across the floor to theatrically lifting his pant leg, Sammy’s unconventional style has sparked a wave of criticism and confusion online.
After watching the Australian dancer’s videos, some netizens felt he was just as bad as his Ph.D.-holding wife.
“Don’t these ppl have access to YouTube to see what actual breakdancing is like?!!” one person asked. “I’m still scratching my head.”
“You are just as bad as your wife. Embarrassing,” read a second comment, while a third added, “Makes sense now…”
One wrote, “That’s the person who kept telling her she was ready for the Olympics.”
“Can’t figure out why you are so horrendous!” said yet another.
Videos of Raygun’s husband and coach, Samuel Free, have resurfaced following her Olympic performance, showcasing his unconventional moves to the world
Until about a week back, Raygun was relatively unknown outside the Australian breakdancing community. But today, owing to her controversial Olympic performance, nearly everyone on the internet knows her name.
Competing in the first-ever Olympic women’s breakdancing event, she failed to score any points against competitors from the USA, France, and Lithuania, losing all three round-robin battles with scores of 18-0, 18-0, and 18-0.
The dancer grew up performing jazz, ballroom, and tap before being introduced to breakdancing at university by none other than Samuel.
The dancing duo met in 2008 and married in 2018. After Samuel tore his ACL in 2017, they have dedicated their lives to building her breaking career.
“You are just as bad as your wife. Embarrassing,” one netizen commented on a breakdancing video of Sammy The Free
The couple revealed that their lives had completely “changed” after Raygun qualified for the Olympics. Samuel said he may have qualified as well but chose to be a coach instead.
“We were surprised when we heard breaking was going to be in the Paris Olympics. Rachael was the top woman in Australia and I could probably have qualified, but I made the difficult but pragmatic decision to put my skills to use as a team coach instead,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview with his wife.
“Qualifying for the Olympics has changed our lives,” she said in the interview. “…Sammy probably would’ve liked to have been competing, too, but we had a limited number of people in Australia with the expertise needed to coach.”
Samuel’s dual role as both husband and coach to Raygun has led to friction in their training, but they said they found a balance with a “soft approach” to feedback
When it comes to her training, Samuel spoke about how there would be “friction” whenever he spoke to her as her “coach” and not her “husband. But eventually, he said he learned to take a “soft approach.”
“Rachael and I spent COVID training in our apartment. We had to find a new way of communicating. I’d be like, ‘You need to do it faster’ or ‘Why aren’t you doing this?’ and there’d be friction when I talked to her like a coach instead of a husband,” he told the outlet.
“She needs a soft approach, to know I’m not denigrating her,” he continued. “Now I say things like, ‘As your husband, I’m in awe of how hard you’re training and the progress you’ve made. But as your coach, I’m saying: ‘Train harder. Let’s go!’ When she qualified in February, we were, literally, jumping for joy.”
His 36-year-old wife admitted she can get “defensive” when her husband-cum-coach gives her feedback.
“Sometimes, he’ll give me feedback and I’ll get defensive,” she said, “but I’ve learnt to dig deep: ‘What’s really happening here?’ And, usually, it’s that [I’m scared that] he thinks I’m shit. So I’ll say, ‘Just tell me you think I’m whack’ and we end up laughing because he doesn’t think that.”
Despite the controversy, the 36-year-old Olympian’s new-found fame could lead to lucrative international endorsement deals, potentially earning her substantial amounts of money
While some see her Olympic performance as a disaster, Raygun still has the chance to earn millions because of the way she was catapulted to fame.
“She has an enormous brand,” marketing and public relations expert Max Markson told the Daily Mail Australia. “Her reputation in Australia isn’t that great, but she is famous across the world.”
He believes some Australian marketers might avoid striking up deals with her because of the events that transpired at the Paris Olympics.
But on the other hand, there could be strategic marketers willing to use her controversial stardom to their benefit. This could reward the breakdancer with hefty sums of money per deal.
“I don’t think everyone else in other countries is conscious of how Australians feel about her,” the marketing expert said. “I think Australian marketers will be avoiding her for that reason, but there will be somebody in this country who will go for it.”
Post-Olympics, Raygun stayed back in Europe, possibly to take time off with Samuel and her loved ones
He also noted that international companies and global giants could show interest in wanting to work with her.
“She will get international offers from sports shoe brands, like Adidas or Puma, food companies like McDonald’s or KFC, electric cars like BYD, and she will get a phone company like Telstra or Optus or Vodafone,” he said.
Max also noted that Raygun’s bank account could bulk up with amounts of up to $500,000 for an endorsement deal with brands like McDonald’s or KFC.
In addition to this, she could also make money from speaking to different audiences using her Ph.D. and academic background.
“She has a PHD, she has a genuine background, so she will also get speaking engagements. She also has an appeal for kids,” he said. “People will also want her for TV, there will be a TV gig for her in the next six months.”
After Raygun’s Olympic stint in Paris, she did not return to Australia with her fellow Olympians, who landed back in their home country on Wednesday, according to the Daily Mail.
The report said the headline-making breakdancer would be staying back in Europe and possibly spend some time holidaying with Samuel and her loved ones.
Harsh critics called the couple delusional for thinking they are an “Olympic-worthy duo”
