The internet can’t get enough of Australian dancer “Raygun”, whose breakdancing performance at 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday won the attention of social media users worldwide.
Team Australia’s B-Girl Rachael Gunn, better known as Raygun, a 36-year-old lecturer from Sydney, raised eyebrows during her dance battle which saw her display some bizarre moves.
Dressed head-to-toe in a green polo shirt and track pants, Raygun took to the arena in Paris and competed against 21-year-old Logan Edra, or Logistx, from the United States, during breaking’s Olympic debut.
Although she lost 18-0, her unique moves have the internet in a chokehold, with her meme-worthy “kangaroo hop” becoming a particularly hot topic.
“There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008. Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold,” said X user Trapper Haskins.
X user Craig Foster described the professor as an “Aussie legend.”
“We dance to our own beat. And bring marsupial energy to every contest. She’s a national treasure. Give her an AO,” he wrote.
Another X user said they are “obsessed with Raygun because I identify with the level of dorkiness she projects.”
I want Raygun, the 36 year old Australian breakdancer possessed by the spirit of Julia Stiles in Save the Last Dance, to know that I am now her biggest fan and she should never stop doing whatever it is she’s trying to do,” one person commented.
“I could live all my life and never come up with anything as funny as Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian Olympic breakdancer,” another wrote.
Some were in disbelief that the 36-year-old was one of Australia’s top breakdancing contenders handpicked to perform in the Olympics.
“It’s surprising that Raygun from Australia is the top breaker. The kangaroo move—how did she make it this far?! #BreakingForGold She should’ve swapped the kangaroo for a banana to really stand out. What is this?” X user Bites Of Net said.
“Australia just set breakdancing back 40 years,” another X user wrote.
According to Gunn’s LinkedIn profile, she has a Ph.D. in cultural studies and is “interested in the cultural politics of breaking.”