Rachael Gunn, the Australian breaker who was widely ridiculed due to her unconventional routine at the Paris Olympics, she plans to withdraw from the competition.
Gunn, a university lecturer from Sydney, told an Australian radio station that she initially planned to continue competing despite the criticism, but said the experience was so “disturbing” that she changed her mind.
“I just had no control over how people saw me or who I was,” she told radio station 2DayFM. “I definitely wanted to keep competing, but that seems very difficult to do now. I think the level of scrutiny there will be, and people will film it, and it will go online.”
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“Raygun” failed to get on the scoreboard in all three of her rounds of competition in Paris, with a routine that included unorthodox moves such as a kangaroo hop. Her questionable performance spawned conspiracy theories about how she qualified for the Games.
In a television interview for The Project on Australia’s Channel 10 in September, she recalled being chased by cameras through the streets of Paris and dealing with the very public backlash to her performance.
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“People didn’t understand the breaking and were just angry about my performance,” Gunn said. “The conspiracy theories were just terrible and that was really disturbing.”
She apologized for the commotion but again defended her performance and said she was grateful for the support of others in the sport.
It was the first time breaking was an Olympic sport, and it may be the last. The sport is not on the competition list for Los Angeles in 2028, and is also unlikely to appear in Brisbane, Australia, in 2032.