Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has become a name netizens would come across frequently after the Paris Olympics 2024. However, the sensation’s return to her motherland, Australia, following her controversial performance at the Paris Olympics, has taken a surprising turn. Despite finishing second to last and failing to score any points in the Olympic breakdancing event, Gunn now finds herself on the top. To the awe of the world, Raygun has been ranked as the world’s top breakdancer.

The 37-year-old Australian athlete worked hard to secure her place on the Olympic stage by winning the WDSF Oceania Championship. It earned her a ticket to compete with the world’s best, but little did she know that her Paris quest would take a turn completely against her expectations and anticipation. Neither did the world know that an anonymous name in the world of international breakdancing would create such a buzz. Raygun recently reflected light on her experience and reciprocation to the debacle. And things have indeed taken a tough turn for the athlete.

Raygun recounts media chase after Paris Olympics scandal while dealing with mockery and mayhem

However, following her fiasco-filled journey in Paris, Raygun’s homecoming has been anything but a celebration. Instead of basking in her newfound ranking, Gunn has been grappling with a media frenzy that intensified as she landed back in Sydney. For the uninitiated, Rachael Gunn unfortunately failed to bag a single point from the judges with her performance in the Paris Olympics. She was ranked second from the last, just a step ahead of the only disqualified athlete. 

However, despite scoring zero during the Olympic event, Gunn’s ranking skyrocketed in the list of new number-one breakdancers by the World DanceSport Federation (WDSD). But her topping the list came with a whirlwind of chaos, thrusting her into the global spotlight for reasons far beyond her skills on the floor. Gunn’s homecoming immediately became a media spectacle. Reporters swarmed her as she navigated the streets of Sydney, leaving the athlete feeling exposed and anxious. 

In a candid interview on The Project, she opened up about the harrowing experience. Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn stated, “I didn’t understand the scale of it.” It was crazy to be in the eye of the storm with the media chasing her down the streets. She could not figure out the whole “nerve-racking” scenario, and it provoked her to question herself, “If people are chasing me, what do I do?”

The Aussie athlete further confessed that the situation pushed her into a ‘state of panic.’ She continued, “I was quite nervous being out in public because I just didn’t know what was safe, if anyone was going to recognize me, how they were going to respond to seeing me.” The media attention wasn’t just intense but turned out to be extensively overwhelming for her. It further pushed her to make another decision regarding her passion and career.

Breakdancing star Raygun opens up about stepping back after the Paris Olympics controversy

After facing the online trolls and the setbacks from Paris, Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn was suddenly crowned as the world’s number one. But this achievement doesn’t seem to provide any solace to the mental setback she has been dealing with since her homecoming. Raygun was not unaware of the buzz her name and Paris journey created on social media. The crestfallen athlete said, “I did preview some comments, and I was like, ‘Oh, no’, and this kind of sick feeling started coming out. I was like, ‘Oh, goodness! What has happened?’”

But in the recent interview, she highlighted her future plans. She convincingly stated, “I don’t think I’ll be competing for a while. Not really wanting to be in the spotlight, breaking, competing.” She further referred to breakdancing as her ‘medicine’ and added, “It’s been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again. Like, that’s actually been tough. You know, it was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress.”

However, the athlete would still continue staying close to her passion, but the world might not catch her soon performing in the competitive sphere.