Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has opened up about the backlash she copped for her viral performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Breaking event, sharing that the ordeal has “changed” her whole world.
ICYMI: Aussie B-Girl Raygun stole the show at the Paris 2024 Games after performing a set of ~unique~ dance moves at the first-ever Olympic Breaking event. Following her performance at the game, which unfortunately did not lead to any medals, Raygun’s routine went viral, garnering a shit tonne of memes and even a skit on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Although the 37-year-old’s performance was met with laughter, the B-Girl also copped some major backlash. There was even a Change.org petition slamming Raygun, the Australian Olympic Committee and Australia’s Chef de Mission Anna Meares, that demanded an apology and investigation into the selection process for Australia’s Breaking team.
The AOC and Raygun herself came out slamming the allegations made in the online campaign.
Following the Olympic Games hullabaloo, the Macquarie University professor has opened up about her time in Paris 2024, describing that her “whole world has changed” following her newfound fame.
“My identity has changed. My relationships have changed, for better or for worse. It’s in times like these that you find out who your real friends are, unfortunately,” she told Stellar Magazine before revealing that she’s focusing on her health and her family who have also been impacted by the Olympic Games buzz.
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn reveals most haters came for her age and gender
Reflecting on all the online vitriol she received following her series of kangaroo hops, flips and twists at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Gunn noticed that most hateful comments surrounded her age.
“Our culture is very obsessed with age,” she told the publication.
“I think it’s been a real sticking point for a lot of people: me essentially not knowing my place, what I should be doing with my time at this age; (in their view) it’s certainly not participating in that environment, even though I wasn’t the oldest there.
“I had a few people tell me on Facebook and on Instagram what I should be doing… that I should be picking the kids up from school.”
The viral B-Girl also reckons that if she were a man, she would’ve been given “the larrikin title” and that more “people would have rallied” behind her following her performance.
“I saw a great meme that was like, ‘The world is hard on silly women’, with a photo of me,” she added.
“Women aren’t allowed to be silly.
“But I think if I was a man, I would have very quickly been given the larrikin title and people would have rallied behind me a lot more.”
Overall, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games alongside the online commentary has left Raygun “exhausted” with the professor admitting that it’s “definitely taken a toll”.
“There was so much hate and emotion that I needed to wait for everyone to calm down a bit,” she said.
Despite this, Raygun had some strong words for those who’ve tried to come for her post-Olympic Games, stating that the haters “did not bring [her] down”.
“I think the haters want me to be locked away in a room, ashamed and quiet. Every time I leave the house, go out for dinner, go to the shops or do a fashion shoot and pop my head back up, it’s saying, ‘You did not succeed. I still stand by what I did. It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to be yourself. You don’t have the power you think you do,'” she shared.
Without revealing too much, Raygun shared that she’s been working on a few projects “centred around self-expression and joyfulness” on the lowkey.
If those workshops include doing the sprinkler and the kangaroo hop with this icon, I am first in line!
Image source: Getty Images.
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