Olympics breakdancing icon Raygun has announced her retirement from the sport following the backlash she received for her performances at the Paris Games.
The 37-year-old, a university lecturer with a PhD in dance, shot to fame after she became an internet sensation for her maverick routines.
Gunn may have suffered the ignominy of scoring a grand total of zero points, but that didn’t stop her from becoming an internet sensation, not that all the attention was positive, indeed she described some of the abuse as ‘devastating’.
‘I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was. I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now,’ The Australian told local radio station 2DayFM.
‘I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there, and people will be filming it, and it will go online.
‘I still break but that’s like, in my living room with my partner.’
Breakdancing’s status as an Olympic sport appears likely to be short-lived and is unlikely to be on the roster for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Gunn, whose signature moves included a kangaroo hop, was held partially responsible for the negativity the sport garnered during its Olympic debut.
An online petition that accused Gunn of manipulating the qualification procedure to earn her Paris spot attracted 50,000 signatures before it was removed at the request of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
The AOC also refuted a claim that Gunn’s husband, Samuel Free, who is also her coach, was involved in her selection.
Gunn said the ‘conspiracy theories were totally wild’.
‘But I just try and stay on the positives and that’s what gets me through,” she added.
‘The people that have like [said], ‘you have inspired me to go out there and do something that I’ve been too shy to do. You’ve brought joy, you’ve brought laughter. You know, we’re so proud of you.”
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