The 2024 Summer Olympics are the first to feature an official breakdancing competition alongside established events like gymnastics, track and field, and volleyball. A star wasn’t born, but a household name was. 36-year-old cultural studies professor Rachael “Raygun” Gunn shocked and delighted viewers with one of the most unexpected performances at this year’s games.
Bringing Breakdancing to the Olympicsas part of an effort to broaden its appeal and attract a younger, more diverse audience. In fact, one of the things that has made this year’s event such a success so far seems to be the ease with which viewers can stream the various competitions, as well as the ability to instantly share viral clips, commentary, and memes via platforms like TikTok. The result is that there’s one version of the Summer Olympics presented on live television and another shared online each day, with different headliners and entertaining moments bouncing around different corners of the internet.
Gunn became one of them. After 16 years of training and competing in various breakdancing world championships, she qualified for the Paris Olympics to represent Australia. “My specialty is style and creativity, not dynamics or power moves like a lot of other dancers,” she said. he told NBC before the event. “I checked most of those boxes because that’s my specialty. I don’t know if it’ll be valued as much as some of the other criteria, but I hope people will still be impressed by what I bring to the table because it’s something different.”
People were certainly thrilled, though probably not in the way she intended. Here are some of the reactions:
As many have noted, Gunn seems like a very nice person and clearly tries to bring her best energy to one of the world’s biggest stages. And indeed, she has accomplished more than most performers at the Games, whether she wins a medal or not. There are some very shadowy things going on in the world these days, and “disgusting” or not, Gunn’s dance brought a smile to the faces of millions. It brought So you think you can dance a reality show feel – cluttered, real and unvarnished – that was missing from the Summer Olympics.
