You don’t need a medal or even Olympic points to be celebrated in your own country.
Rachel “Raegan” Gunn was greeted with cheers in her home country when she returned to Australia from the Olympic breaking (or breakdancing) competition in Paris.
The 36-year-old was surrounded by supporters as she twirled and did handstands in the street to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”
Gunn’s response to her arrival continued to downplay her infamous performance at the Olympics, where she failed to receive a single vote in three separate head-to-head breakdancing competitions.
“Not terrible for an amateur but she should be great,” one social media user wrote.
“She’s well aware she hasn’t done all the moves she should at the Olympics,” another person hinted.
Gunn made headlines for all the wrong reasons, as fans were left confused by his awkward combinations, unusual uniforms and slightly exaggerated moves.
Despite this, “Raygun” wasn’t about to let his spirit fall victim to the same fate as the scorecards.
“All my moves are original,” she said in Paris. “I could never beat them with the dynamic, powerful movements that they are known for, so I wanted to move differently, to be artistic and creative. How many chances do you get in your lifetime to do that on an international stage? I was always the underdog, so I wanted to make my mark in a different way.”
In the breaking competition held for the first time at the Olympics, Japan’s Ami Yuasa (Ami), Lithuania’s Dominika Banević (Nikka) and China’s Liu Qingyi (671) made it onto the podium in the B-girl division.
When he’s not on the Olympic stage, Gunn is a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, where he focuses on the “cultural politics of breaking”, according to the university’s website.
Gunn also works at Macquarie University’s Centre for Performance and Expertise Research.
