The 2024 Summer Olympics will be the first to feature an official breakdancing competition alongside traditional disciplines such as gymnastics, athletics and volleyball. A star may not have been born, but a household name was. 36-year-old cultural studies professor Rachael “Raygun” Gunn shocked and delighted spectators with one of the most unexpected performances of this year’s games.
Bring breakdancing to the Olympicsas part of efforts to increase attractiveness and appeal to a younger, more diverse audience. In fact, one of the reasons this year’s event has been so successful so far seems to be the ease with which audiences can stream the various competitions and the ability to instantly share viral footage, comments and memes through platforms like TikTok. The result is that there is one version of the Summer Olympics broadcast on live television and another shared online every day, with different main characters and entertaining moments coming from different corners of the internet.
Gunn is now one of them. After 16 years of training and taking part in various breakdancing world championships, she managed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris to represent Australia. “My speciality is style and creativity, not dynamics or power moves like many other dancers,” she says. told NBC before the event. “I checked most of those boxes because it’s my specialty. I don’t know if it will be worth as much as some of the other criteria, but I hope people are still excited about what I bring because it’s something different.”
People were certainly excited, although probably not in the way she intended. Here are some of the reactions:
As many people have pointed out, Gunn seems like a perfectly nice person and she is clearly trying to bring her best energy to one of the biggest stages in the world. And in fact, she has accomplished more than most of the other performers at the Games, whether she wins a medal or not. There are some very dark things happening in the world these days and, “abomination” or not, Gunn’s dancing brought a smile to millions of people’s faces today. It brought the So you think you can dance Reality TV vibes – chaotic, authentic and unvarnished – that were missing from the Summer Olympics.
