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Posted: 2024-09-04 12:03:41

Australian Olympic breaker Rachel "Raygun" Gunn says navigating her new-found fame after competing at the Paris Games has been "a pretty wild ride".

In an interview with The Project's Waleed Aly, Raygun said going viral for her breaking performance has had its ups and downs.

"I never thought that I would be able to connect with so many people in such a positive way, so that's been amazing, but it definitely has been tough at times," she told Aly.

Raygun received a lot of criticism on social media for her performance after a video of one of her routines went viral and she failed to score a single point during her Olympic heats.

When asked how she dealt with the criticism, she said she did receive support, but was still finding the whole experience difficult to digest.

"Fortunately, I got some mental health support pretty quickly and I also went off social media, I went off the internet. It is just still pretty hard to process," she said.

Raygun also said she wasn't initially aware of how viral her performance had gotten, and that her media liaison from the Australian Olympics Committee (AOC) was the one to tell her.

"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. I did preview some comments, and I was like, 'Oh, no,' and this kind of sick feeling started coming out."

Reacting to the Jimmy Fallon sketch

Shortly after Raygun's infamous performance, US late night host Jimmy Fallon had comedian Rachel Dratch on The Tonight Show, dressed up as Raygun and performing for the studio audience.

Raygun said she had mixed emotions about the sketch and didn't know how to react.

"I don't know whether to hug him or yell at him. I haven't actually watched it the sketch because I don't think I am in a place to watch it," she said.

Raygun also told Aly she hasn't yet watched her own viral performance.

"I have seen little bits and pieces, but I will watch it eventually," she said.

Raygun apologises for 'backlash' to breakers

One of the critics of Raygun's Olympic performance was Australian breaker Spice, who said "it made a mockery of the Australian scene".

Raygun said it was hard to hear that kind of criticism.

"I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can't control how people react," she said.

She said the sport in Australia needs more resources so Australian breakers can have a chance of winning a world championship.

"Historically, unfortunately, we haven't had the best track record of winning world championships, so, you know, I don't think that's just on me," she told Aly.

'People don't believe the truth'

With so much criticism online, conspiracy theories began to circulate about how Raygun made it to Paris.

The misinformation was addressed by the AOC, after an online petition asking for a full investigation into the selection process began gaining popularity.

"That was upsetting, because it wasn't just people that didn't understand breaking and were just angry about my performance, it was people that were attacking our reputation and our integrity.

"People still don't believe the truth, but we do live in a different world now, so I think that's just going be part of our reality, unfortunately."

Raygun added that she wasn't the only one to receive hate.

"There's been a portion of very angry and awful responses, not only attacking me but attacking my husband, attacking my crew, attacking the breaking and street dance community in Australia, my family," she said.

The energy and vitriol that people had was pretty alarming.

Sir Richard Branson loved Raygun's performance

When asked if there was an upside to her viral moment, Raygun said she received a call from British billionaire Sir Richard Branson.

"The upside is Sir Richard Branson calling you to say that he enjoyed your performance and he thought that it was 'plucky' and 'courageous and fun'," she said.

"And he would love to have me on some cruises with Boy George."

Raygun added she would much rather focus on the positives of her viral moment and the joy it has brought people.

Breaking in the future

Raygun said after experiencing her new-found fame for a little while, she doesn't want to be in the spotlight at the moment.

"I don't think I will be competing for a while. It has been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again," she said.

"It was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress — so I am really hoping that gets to go back to being my medicine, [and] I can finally feel free again."

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