Who Is 'Raygun,' the Viral Olympic Breakdancer?

Breaking, formerly known as breakdancing, is the newest Olympic sport, and Japan and Canada took home gold medals in it over the weekend. But that wasn't what was making headlines; rather, it was an Australian breakdancer nicknamed "Raygun" who pretty much broke the internet. Rachael Gunn, 36, was older than many of her 20something competitors, and her moves were a bit different as well. Most notably, she failed to score a single point in the competition (you can see some of her moves in social media videos like this one). A sampling of the coverage:

• As Page Six reports, among the many comparisons being drawn was one to the lovingly-teased choreography performed by Julia Stiles' character in Save the Last Dance. While some online commentators weren't very gracious in their assessments of Raygun's moves, others said her "dorkiness" appealed to them, and many enthusiastically embraced her online.

• The top judge of the competition applauded Raygun for her "originality," the BBC reports. As he explained, the sport has adopted a "competitive judging system," so her lack of points is not an indication that "she did really bad."
• Australia's prime minister weighed in, too. "The Olympics is about people participating in sport ... and Raygun had a crack, good on her," Anthony Albanese said. Others in the Olympic breaking community, as well as team officials, also threw their support behind her when people started mocking her online, People reports.
• "I was always going to be the underdog going in," Raygun said after her performance, per MSN. "I was never going to beat these B-Girls at what they do, so I did what I do best and I went out and I showed myself, my creativity, my style, a little bit of Australian character so that I could try and make my mark on this world stage." She also posted to Instagram urging people to never fear being themselves or being "different."
• Breaking isn't even her day job—she's a professor of cultural studies, Today reports in its get-to-know-Raygun feature.
• As France24 reports, this could be the first and last time breaking is featured at the Olympics. There won't be a competition in the 2028 games, and it's not clear whether it will be picked back up in 2032.

(More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)