The 2024 Summer Olympics are the first ones to feature an official breakdancing competition alongside the traditional events like gymnastics, track and field, and volleyball. A star was not born, but a household name was. The 36-year old cultural studies professor Rachael “Raygun” Gunn shocked and delighted viewers with one of the most unexpected performances at this year’s games.
Bringing breakdancing to the Olympics was part of an effort to broaden its appeal and pull in younger, more diverse audiences. In reality, one of the things that has made this year’s event so successful thus far appears to be the ease with which audiences can stream the various competitions, and the ability to share viral takes, commentary, and memes instantly with platforms like TikTok. The result is that there is one version of the Summer Olympics as presented on live TV, and another as shared online every day, with various main characters and entertaining moments bouncing off various corners of the internet.
Gunn has now become one of them. After practicing for 16 years and competing in various breakdancing world championships, she managed to qualify for the Paris Olympics to represent Australia. “My specialty is style and creativity, not dynamics or power moves like many other dancers,” she told NBC before the event. “I’ve ticked most of these boxes because it’s my specialty. I don’t know if it’s going to be valued as much as some of the other criteria, but I hope people are still wowed by what I bring since it’s something different.”
People were certainly wowed, though probably not in the way she had 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 world’s largest stages. And indeed, she has accomplished more than most performers have at the games, whether she wins a medal or not. There are some very grim things going on in the world these days, and “abomination” or not, Gunn’s dancing has brought smiles to millions of people today. It brought the So You Think You Can Dance reality TV vibes—messy, authentic, and unvarnished—that the Summer Olympics have been missing.
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