An Australian breakdancer has gone viral on social media for her unique routine at the 2024 Olympic Games.
For the first time in Olympic history, Breaking - a style of street dance that originated in 1970s New York - became an official sport.
The impressive dance style was introduced as a sport to attract new and younger viewers to the Games...and it most certainly did when an Australian contestant named Raygun (real name Rachel Gunn) took the stage on Friday (August 9).
Gunn - whose b-girl name is Raygun - became an instant internet sensation after busting a few moves at the competition.
Social media users couldn't get over the 36-year-old's bizarre routines which included her bouncing around the stage like a kangaroo, standing on her head, and rolling around on her shoulder.
Some people shared their reactions online as one person wrote: "I could live all my life and never come up with anything as funny as Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian Olympic breakdancer."
Another user who seemed to admire Gunn shared on X (formerly Twitter): "I want Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian breakdancer possessed by the spirit of Julia Stiles in Save the Last Dance, to know that I am now her biggest fan and she should never stop doing whatever it is she’s trying to do."
A third sweetly added: "There are so many jokes being made about Raygun, but I genuinely think she’s f**king fantastic and despite not knowing she even existed a day ago, I adore her and her backstory. what a wholly brilliant woman. I could watch her for days."
Of course, there were a few sarcastic comments as this user quipped: "There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008. Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold."
Another captioned the video of Raygun's moves with: "My five-year-old niece after she says 'watch this!'"
"Australia did B-Girl Raygun dirty with this ugly-as-sin outfit. Lookin like she's gonna ask if I want fries with that," someone remarked.
Upon seeing the comments about her uniform - and routine - Gunn fired back on her Instagram story, writing: “Looking forward to the same level of scrutiny on what the bboys wear tomorrow."
The dancer has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture and was a ballroom dancer before taking up breaking.
She is a 36-year-old Macquarie University lecturer and has been breaking for 16 years, representing her country at the World Breaking Championships in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Unfortunately, Gunn got no love from the Olympic judges as she lost all three round-robin battles 18-0, 18-0, 18-0 against the USA, France, and Lithuania. However, she most definitely left her "creative" mark on stage as her moves are now viral.
“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get in a lifetime to do that on an international stage?" Raygun said after her performance, per News.com.au. "I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way."
The 36-year-old shared that despite it all, she still had a wonderful experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Look, I came into the event kind of expecting that I wouldn’t get a vote,” she told Yahoo Sports after the event. “It was amazing. Such an amazing experience. What a stage, what an arena, what a crowd. Music was great. Like, oh, so, so grateful for the opportunity."
