It only took a few minutes for Raygun’s life to take a sudden and unexpected turn.
Prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics, Rachael Gunn was a dancer known primarily to the Australian breakdancing community.
By the end of the Games, Gunn had become a viral sensation for her notorious routine that was mocked in every corner of the internet and even on late night talk shows.
“It’s been so hard to deal with,” she told Stellar. “My whole world has changed. My identity has changed. My relationships have changed, for better or worse. Unfortunately, it’s times like these that you find out who your true friends are. And since things are still changing, it is simply impossible to understand. It’s hard to predict what it will be like when I leave home.
“It’s still a process because I have to (prioritize) my own health. I talk to my family when I can, but it’s hard for me to know how much it cost them because I think it’s going to cost me.
Gunn, who appeared on the cover of the magazine in a blue dress, said she keeps a file of positive, fun photos and clips to help her stay mentally positive amid all the outside noise.
Many mocked her for her routine which scored 0.0, mocking her kangaroo jump during her performance and even comparing her to a Golden Retriever rolling around on the floor.
Conspiracy theories have emerged about how she even qualified for the Olympic team.
Gunn said she doesn’t mind the lighter versions of her infamous performance.
“My friends were sending them all to me and I loved it,” she told the outlet. “I loved it when people laughed with me because, yes, I did wacky things. I know that.”
However, the more severe positions and criticisms have left their mark. She noted that the bias allegations against her husband and coach Samuel Free really stinged.
Gunn told the magazine that the experience made his anxiety “really bad.”
She constantly needed someone around her, even just to leave the house, and she stopped wearing a baseball cap because it made her easier to recognize.
“People really tried to shame me,” she told Stellar.
“It’s a process that I’m working on, trying to resist that shame. I work on mental health issues, I see my psychologist, I exercise when I don’t feel like it, I do breathing exercises. (My mental health) is now something I have to take care of – I’m exhausted. This definitely took its toll.
The focus on mental health came at the suggestion of her new manager who she hired amid her new celebrity status.
Gunn tried to avoid making headlines, with the story noting that she declined numerous invitations to appear on shows, instead focusing on reading and “doing some spring cleaning.”
“There was so much hatred and emotion that I had to wait for everyone to calm down a little,” Gunn told Stellar.
“I have a few new projects that I’m working on right now that I’m really excited about (that are) (focused) on self-expression and joy.”
Gunn defended her inclusion in the Paris Games, telling the magazine how she was Australia’s No. 1 B-Girl in 2020, 2022 and 20223.
“Of course I knew my level,” Gunn said. “I wanted to go out there and show people that it’s okay to be yourself despite the world watching you, despite having to go up against people who are really incredible dancers – younger people. [and with] different approaches… to simply do what suits you.
Gunn also believes his age – 37 – factored into the focus on his performance.
When she’s not breakdancing, Gunn is a lecturer at Macquarie University. She holds a doctorate in cultural studies.
“I’m a confident 37-year-old woman with no kids, a career, and having fun,” Gunn told the outlet.
“Our culture is very obsessed with age. I think that’s been a real sticking point for a lot of people: I basically don’t know my place, what I should be doing with my time at this age; (in their opinion) it’s definitely not about participating in that environment, even though I wasn’t the oldest there.
She added: “I’ve had a few people tell me on Facebook and Instagram what I should do… that I should go pick the kids up from school. »
Gunn said the focus on her performance shows the difference in how men and women are treated, as she believes a man would not have been ridiculed to this extent.
“I saw a great meme that said, ‘The world is hard for stupid women’ with a picture of me. Women are not allowed to be stupid,” Gunn said. “But I think if I was a man, I would have gotten the title (maverick) very quickly and people would have rallied around me a lot more.”
She added that the Paris Games showed “the best and the worst when it comes to gender equality.”
Gunn hopes the ups and downs she endured will help people remember that all jokes and laughs come at one person’s expense. There is a human element in all of this that must not be forgotten.
She also wants breakdancing to remain in the national conversation and not just start and end with it.
For now, Gunn is doing what she can to change the narrative around her.
“There is still a lot of work to do to try to rebuild my image. I’m just going to let people get to know me a little more, because they just don’t,” she told Stellar.
“I feel like every time I go for it again, it’s a little bit of a power move.
“I think those who hate me want me to be locked in a room, ashamed and quiet. Every time I leave the house, go out to dinner, go shopping, or do a fashion shoot and I look up, it says, “No, you didn’t shoot me down. You didn’t succeed. I still stand by what I did. It’s good to be different. It’s okay to be yourself. You don’t have the power you think you do.
