Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn puts infamous breaking moves on show again in beautiful Olympic moment

Australia’s Olympians have rallied around under-fire breakdancer Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn in a beautiful show of solidarity after what has been a tumultuous few days since her infamous performance.

Raygun became a viral sensation after losing all of her Olympic breaking battles and scoring zero points in the group stage of the competition as she bombed out in the first round.

She lost all three of her round-robin battles by a combined score of 54-0.

The 36-year-old decided to turn back the clock and pull out some moves of yesteryear, which included kangaroo hops and even the sprinkler.

She was mocked and mercilessly ridiculed for her performance, the footage becoming an endless source of satire for online trolls.

So ruthless was the global treatment Raygun received that Australian chef de mission Anna Meares was forced to staunchly defend her credentials as a member of the team.

But the Aussie breakdancer has refused to have her spirit broken and, in a perfect response to the critics, provided the life to Australia’s farewell party in Paris.

With the Australian team gathered together in the streets ahead of the closing ceremony at the Stade de France, Raygun was given a hero’s entrance through a guard of honour on the top of the shoulders of rower Angus Widdicombe.

“The Queen has arrived for the closing ceremony,” sports reporter Jack Snape said on social media.

The team then circled up around her as she showed off her dance moves once again, to the raucous score of her teammates’ cheering.

“The Paris closing ceremony is unfolding with the Aussie athletes basking in the glory of Raygun’s heroics in the lead in. Got to love the way they have got around her,” News Corp’s Jon Ralph said.

It’s fair to say the response to the footage was mixed, but there were lots who chose to celebrate her positivity.

“Good on her! Glad she’s embracing the moment and having fun,” one said.

“Honestly she went out there had fun and made the Olympics memorable,” another added.

And while Meares has stood by Raygun, we know she won’t add to her Olympic debut at the next Games in Los Angeles, but not necessarily because of her performance in Paris.

Breaking has not been included in the list of sports for LA 2028.

But in a show of support on Sunday, the head judge of the breaking competition said the university professor Gunn was just trying to be original.

And the breaking federation say they have offered mental health support in the wake of online criticism.

“Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” head judge Martin Gilian — known as MGbility — said at a press conference.

“This is exactly what Raygun was doing. She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo.”

The breaking and hip-hop communities “definitely stand behind her”, he added.

“We have five criteria in the competitive judging system and just her level was maybe not as high as the other competitors,” MGbility said.

“But again, that doesn’t mean that she did really bad. She did her best. She won the Oceania qualifier. Unfortunately for her, the other b-girls were better.”

Sergey Nifontov, general secretary of the World DanceSport Federation, said they had been in direct contact with Gunn and Australian Olympic team officials

“We offered (the) support of our safe-guarding officer. We are aware about what has happened, especially on social media, and definitely we should put the safety of the athlete, in this case, mental safety in first place,” he said.

“She has us as a federation supporting her.”

Breaking, known to many as breakdancing, a term its performers dislike, is not on the program for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, but Brisbane 2028 hasn’t been ruled out yet.

“We believe that this has nothing to do with our chances for Brisbane 2032,” Nifontov said when asked about the criticism of Raygun and getting back into the Olympics.

- With AAP