Raygun's 'whole world changed' after she went viral. It wasn't all for the better.

Raygun?

We haven't heard that name in months.

Two months, to be exact.

Yes, it's been just two months since breaker Raygun became the victim of a predictably dichotomous internet. While half the world was hailing the Olympian as a legend, the other was waving its pitchforks and demanding an investigation into her credibility.

Watch Anna Meares praise Raygun's courage. Post continues after video.

Raygun — known outside break circles as Dr Rachael Gunn — went viral for her break-dancing performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Her unorthodox moves like the 'kangaroo hop' and the 'sprinkler' dominated our social media feeds for weeks. Some Australians relished in the attention towards one of our own. Others grimaced at the 'laughing stock' that had been seemingly made of our country.

For better or worse, Raygun was thrust into the public sphere at a global level. People were hungry for the breaker; some for her downfall, others for her company. Suddenly, the university lecturer was bumping shoulders with the likes of business magnate Sir Richard Branson — who invited her on his boat after finding her performance "plucky, courageous and fun".

The attention was an understandable adjustment for the 37-year-old, who teaches media, communications and creative arts at Macquarie University. Much like her breakdance moves, her entire existence had been flipped on its head.

Now, in a profile with Stellar, she has reflected on the chaos.

"It's been hard to process," Gunn told the publication.

"My whole world has changed. My identity has changed. My relationships have changed," she added.

Though she didn't go into detail, it seems the academic-turned-dancer may have lost some friends along the tumultuous journey, too, saying, "It's in times like these that you find out who your real friends are, unfortunately.

"Because things are still changing, it's just impossible to wrap your head around. It's hard to predict what it's going to be like when I leave the house."

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While she tries to focus on the positive outcomes of the experience, Raygun recognises that her mental health has suffered, her anxiety once so severe that she required company whenever she exited her front door.

"People really have tried to shame me," she said. "I'm working through mental health stuff, seeing my psychologist, doing exercise when I don't feel like it, doing breathing exercises. [My mental health] is now something that I have to look after — it's being exhausted. It's definitely taken a toll."

Unsure of what the future holds, Raygun hopes her story will at least spark discussions about shame and success, saying that one day she will write a first-hand account of her journey.

One of Raygun's breaking moves during her viral Olympic performance. Image: Getty

Her reflections come a month after her first televised interview since the performance that caught the world's attention on The Project. It was here that she responded to allegations that she cheated her way into the Olympics.

As soon as it became clear that Raygun's husband, Samuel Free, was her breaking coach, rumours ramped up that he had been on the selection panel for the Oceania Olympic qualifiers — where Raygun earned her ticket to Paris.

So adamant were some that favouritism had occurred, that they started an online petition calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) to hold Raygun "accountable for unethical conduct" in her selection for the Games.

The petition was taken down, however, when it became clear that the claims were unequivocally false.

"Contrary to circulating misinformation, Dr Gunn's husband, Raygun's coach, was not a member of the selection panel or judging committee," read a statement, fact checked by AAP and AusBreaking. "This would have constituted a conflict of interest, and the Olympics hold strict standards that would never have allowed this to pass."

Speaking about the dogged allegations, Raygun was most hurt at how the rumours impacted the "reputation and integrity" of the breaking community.

"None of them were grounded in any kind of facts and obviously, [the rumours are] still circulating," she told Waleed Aly on The Project, reiterating that she won the Oceania Championships fair and square.

"There were nine judges, all from overseas. I don't think any of them have judged anything that I'd been in before, and I was, you know, super nervous about it, to be honest, because even though I'd won all these competitions in Australia, I was nervous about winning this one because it was all new judges."

Others in the breaking community also came to Raygun's defence since her performance at the Olympics. Martin Gilian, who was the head judge of the Olympic breakdancing competition, praised the lecturer's moves.

"Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region. This is exactly what Raygun was doing," he said during a press conference.

"She created some original moves which could be maybe funny or entertaining for others, but for us, she basically represented breaking and hip hop. She was trying to be original and bring something new to the table. From our perspective, that was nothing really shocking."

Meanwhile, Olympic chef de mission Anna Meares condemned "social media trolls and keyboard warriors" in the wake of the vicious backlash, deeming Raygun a "loved member" of the team.

"I absolutely love her courage," she said. "I love her character and I feel very disappointed for her, that she has come under the attack that she has."

Meares also shared that, 16 years ago, Raygun was left "locked in a room crying" as the only woman in a male-dominated sport.

"It takes a lot of courage to walk out into any sporting environment and try to have a go… How can we continue to encourage our kids to do that when we're prepared to slam our athletes who do it on a global stage?"