Almost a year after catapulting to global fame at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Australian breakdancer Dr. Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has opened up about the toll it took on her mental health.
In a candid interview with news.com.au, the Macquarie University academic said that after being the subject of a wave of vitriol on social media, she felt “paralysed” and “panicky” if she didn’t have a trusted loved one by her side, specifically her husband, Samuel Free, in the months afterwards.
“I was just kind of stuck and paralysed until either Sammy came back or we found some friends or something,” she admitted to the publication.
“For a long time, I generally felt out of my body, if that makes sense, like the whole world was different.”
She added that her anxiety had already skyrocketed in the six months leading up to the Games due to the “immense” pressure she felt as the first female Australian breakdancing athlete to qualify for the Olympics.
“The Olympics is such a huge event and there’s so much pressure on you, regardless of your chances,” she told the publication, adding that her mental health journey began long before “the big day when everything changed.”
In a previous interview with New Idea ahead of her Olympic debut, Raygun also said she never could have imagined that she would be “an elite athlete representing [Australia] at the biggest games in the world” after picking up the sport in her mid-twenties.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games were the first time the sport of breakdancing had been added to the official sports list for the Olympics. It will not return in 2028 in Los Angeles.
After her Olympic debut, footage of the now 37-year-old’s breakdancing performance went viral online, and she quickly became the subject of global ridicule on social media.
While she find support in some of the world’s biggest stars including the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Boy George and Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson, it didn’t stop other big names for poking fun at her breakdancing.
Shortly after the Paris 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony, late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon even performed a sketch with comedian Rachel Dratch as ‘Raygun’ that mocked the breakdancing moves she used in Paris.
While time does heal, the Olympian says that she still has “bad days” and is still working to rebuild her confidence surrounding the sport.
“I would have a good cry probably every couple of weeks because I felt so numb the rest of the time, like I couldn’t be angry, I couldn’t be upset, I was just trying to process everything that was happening.”
“Then I would have a good cry, and I would feel a bit better for a while.”
“It’s still hard, to be honest.”
If you are in need of mental health support, please contact Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.
