Raygun opens up on ‘massive toll’ of Olympics notoriety

Two years on from her viral performance in the newly-minted breakdancing event at the Paris Olympics, Australian breaker Rachael “Raygun” Gunn says she can share in the laugh - but it wasn’t always so.

The academic and breaker inadvertently took over social media when she performed in front of the eyes of the world, with her eye-catching and bizarre moves becoming an instant global meme.

That online storm, and the fallout on Gunn’s real life, are the focus of a new Netflix documentary Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, which premieres on the streamer on September 1.

Ahead of its release, Gunn spoke with Today about her much-mocked moment in the spotlight, saying the day itself was “a blur”.

“It was the first time I’ve ever competed on a stage that big,” she said.

“It was a really intense, high-pressure situation. But what an experience still.”

As for the global reaction, which strayed at times into incendiary territory, time has given Gunn some perspective on her performance.

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“I totally have a laugh at it,” she said.

“You know, it’s I mean, it’s funny ... I was worried everyone’s going to laugh at me. And then like, they literally do, but, you know, of course I laugh at it now.”

But, she said, “there was laughter and then there was laughter”.

“And, you know, there were some people that, you know, celebrated and, and got on board and thought, this is wild and quirky, I love it,” she said.

“And then there were some nasty laughter as well.”

Online speculation about how Gunn was selected in the Australian team, and accusations of gaming the system, also proliferated after her performance.

That “misinformation”, Gunn said, is also addressed in the documentary.

She said that, at the time, the immense reaction to her performance took a heavy toll.

“It took me a long time to really understand that and come to terms with,” she said.

“It’s not something that you just like can understand in a day or in a week or in a month, you know, realising and processing what happened took a really long time.

“And, you know, I kept seeing my psychologist, I went up my anti-depressants and I did all the things, you know, I took up knitting, I did exercise, I did this, you know, to truly try and work on my mental health, because it did take a massive toll.

“And it was, you know, the lows were low, the highs were high.”

And she certainly hasn’t turned her back on the sport, even saying she’d love to return in a “support” capacity should breaking return to the Olympic stage in Brisbane in 2032.

“I’m absolutely still breaking now and I’ll always be part of the community,” Gunn said.

You can watch the full interview in the player above.