One wonders how Rachael Gunn will do now that she has to fall back on the private sector for a job.
Gunn — an Australian breakdancer known as “Raygun” who went viral for all the wrong reasons after the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris — has been given her walking papers from Macquarie University in Sydney. (One assumes that, having seen her moves, those were very explicitly walking papers, with no dancing allowed.)
Thus, the New York Post reported, she’s now hiring herself out as a speaker, panelist, and “fireside chat” host, among other things.
From the Post:
In a post to her Instagram story on Wednesday, Gunn posted two words: “It’s official.”
On the same story, she also shared a link to her new website, which boasts a picture of Gunn in a spinning wheel, and the site’s cursor appears in the shape of Gunn’s infamous kangaroo dance move.
According to the website, Gunn is a “speaker, host (and) conversation starter” and is available to talk about a range of topics, including resilience, mental health, and “going viral and staying grounded” among other things.
She knows about “going viral,” although “staying grounded” is not her thing.
Lest ye forget, here was Gunn’s performance back in 2024, which is the only reason we know her name:
Rachael Gunn. Full performance. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/9UMJvI9AU0
— Avalancha (@Ava7ancha) August 11, 2024
She was awarded zero points for the routine, and it quickly became apparent that she may have earned her place in the competition and on Team Australia via a compromised process.
Gunn, 36 at the time, turned out to be a cultural studies lecturer at the prestigious Sydney school specializing in breakdancing, whose Ph.D thesis was titled (this stuff belies satire, really) “Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney’s Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl’s Experience of B-boying.” Yes, not only was she an incompetent dancer, she was a woke, DEI-hire dancer, too.
“This thesis critically interrogates how masculinist practices of breakdancing offers a site for the transgression of gendered norms,” Gunn writes in the abstract.
“Drawing on my own experiences as a female within the male-dominated breakdancing scene in Sydney, first as a spectator, then as an active crew member, this thesis questions why so few female participants engage in this creative space, and how breakdancing might be the space to displace and deterritorialize gender.”
Seven years after that 2017 thesis, she proved that if gender norms are to be displaced and deterritorialized via breakdancing, Gunn wouldn’t be the one to do it. And now, she can’t even fall back on the sugar daddy of the terminally untalented: academia.
So now her services are available to you, at a cost.
“Dr. Rachael Gunn (Raygun) is a speaker, educator, and performer who brings energy, insight, and positivity to every stage,” her website reads.
“Since the Paris Olympic Games, she has expanded on her work to draw on her experience of going viral and preparing for elite competition, exploring themes such as resilience, creativity, and mental health.
“Whether you’re looking for a keynote speaker, panel moderator/contributor, workshop facilitator, or an MC who can hold the room, Rachael brings an uplifting and engaging presence to every event,” the description adds.
I reiterate: This is this woman’s career highlights in what could best be described as the private, non-academic sector:
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn’s Top 10 Moves That will forever be etched in Olympic History 😳😭☠️ pic.twitter.com/OqQjKELbNI
— JC Vollentine (@Theonlyjcvolly) June 29, 2025
And not only that, she’s still not a retired breakdancer.
“I haven’t retired, I’m a part of the scene,” she told 10News+ in Australia.
“I didn’t get any money out of the Olympics. I’m a person, you know? Everyone, chill out a bit.
“The world’s a scary place, and there’s a lot of stuff going on. I don’t think we need to react with so much rage about what someone says or how someone dances. Everyone just needs to chill. Where’s that Australian chill?”
Probably the same place that Australian dollars will be: not coming Raygun’s way.
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