Everybody loves Raygun.
The Australian breaking sensation, real name Rachael Gunn, has become the most talked about athlete of the Paris Games, with her performance undoubtedly carving a chapter into all-time Olympics folklore.
As footage of her dance moves continues to go viral across all corners of social media, celebrity figures have also been swept up by Raygun fever, including British singer Adele, who gave the Aussie a shout-out during her concert in Germany at the weekend.
Now, US talk show host Jimmy Fallon has waded into the famous Games moment, opening his Tonight Show Monday night with a nod to the Sydney breakdancer.
“Breakdancing made its Olympics debut and everybody is talking about the competitor from Australia, Raygun,” Fallon began in his opening monologue, with laughs breaking out in the studio audience before he even mentioned her name.
Fallon then cut to footage of Raygun’s performance. The host cocked his eyebrow, offering, “She actually received zero points for that.”
He continued, “You have to wonder where Raygun is right now.”
Cue ‘Raygun’ crashing Fallon’s monologue, the curtain raising to unveil US actress Rachel Dratch decked out in green and gold kit.
The Saturday Night Live star burst onstage as she imitated Raygun’s various moves, including the sprinkler and the infamous kangaroo hop, which saw Fallon also join in.
While Raygun did indeed lose all three round-robin battles 18-0, 18-0, 18-0 against the USA, France and Lithuania on Saturday, she’s certainly captured the conversation above anyone else.
Adele described Raygun’s showing as “the greatest thing that’s ever happened to the Olympics”.
“Did anyone see the breakdancing lady? It’s all me and my friends have been talking about,” Adele said at her recent show in Munich.
“Now I didn’t even know breakdancing was an Olympic sport these days. That is f***ing fantastic.
“Aaron, my percussionist, is p*ssing himself laughing just thinking about it.
“I can’t work out if it was a joke, but either way it has made me very happy and me and my friends have been sh*tting ourselves laughing for nearly 24 hours.”
Gunn, a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, earned her Olympic spot through qualification by winning the Oceania Breaking Championships last year.
The 36-year-old was in Paris with her husband and coach Samuel Free, a fellow dancer who got her into breakdancing after they met in university. Gunn grew up doing jazz, ballroom and tap.
Speaking after she was knocked out of the event, Gunn said it was her goal going into the Games to offer a point of difference.
“What I wanted to do was come out here and do something new and different and creative – that’s my strength, my creativity,” she told Australian Associated Press.
“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get that in a lifetime to do that on an international stage.”
Amid the widespread discourse about Raygun, which some believe has been taken a notch too far, head breaking judge Martin Gilian said the world’s breaking federation had offered Gunn mental health support.
“Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” Gilian said at a press conference.
“This is exactly what Raygun was doing. She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo.”
Source Agencies
