Raygun retires from breaking: “It’s been really upsetting”

Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has retired from breaking competitions following harsh criticism and online backlash of her Paris 2024 Olympic Games performance.

“I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems a really difficult thing for me to do now, to approach a battle,” she told 2DayFm. “I still dance and I still break but that’s like, in my living room with my partner.”

Raygun reveals why she has decided to retire on Jimmy & Nath For Breakfast:

“Dancing is so much fun, and it makes you feel good. I don’t think people should feel crap about the way that they dance,” she said.

Memes, online bullying and conspiracy theories spread about how Raygun qualified for the Olympics.

People online suggested her husband and coach, Samuel Free, had a part in her selection to the Australian team. A petition was created on change.com demanding transparency on her selection.

“It’s still impossible to process, the conspiracy theories were totally wild, and it was really upsetting because I felt like I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was, who my partner was, my story.”

The Australian Olympic Committee and AUSBreaking refuted the conspiracies, describing the petition as “vexatious, misleading and bullying”.

Hear about the tidal wave of backlash that followed Raygun’s performance on The Briefing:

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