Breaking has made its Olympic debut at Paris Games at the stunning Place de la Concorde.
Aussie Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn hit the floor as Australia’s first ever Olympic breaker.
With rap icon Snoop Dogg banging the traditional brigadier to open proceedings as a packed exuberant crowd watching on. Raygun put it all on the floor in the B-Girl competition across three battles as the sport finally got its time on the biggest stage.
With four groups of four B-Girls, each competitor had three battles against opponents drawn against them in their group, with the top two from each group progressing through to the quarter-finals.
Drawn against Logistx (USA), Syssy (FRA) and Nicka (LTU), Raygun threw a variety of spectacular throwdowns to take it up to each of her opponents, sending the crowd into raptures throughout several key moves.
Despite her best efforts, Raygun was unable to take a win from the group stage, and was eliminated before the knockout stage.
But for the 36-year-old from Sydney, the experience of representing Australia at the Olympics was the culmination of a lifelong dream.
“It was crazy going out there,” she said. “It's the biggest crowd I've ever performed to.
“We don't have events this big in Australia, but I'm hoping after this, Australia gets behind it and we have some bigger events.
“It was amazing, it's something that I'll never forget.”
“Walking out and hearing the crowd go wild and then them announcing me. I loved it.”
After going down in her first two battles to Logistx and Syssy, Raygun turned up the heat in her third battle, bring an extra level of confidence and flair to her moves.
Her opponent Nicka started with some spectacular drops including several floor moves, which seemed to ignite Raygun into action as she had her turn on the mat.
Hyping the crowd up before she started, Raygun was quick to drop the floor, pulling off several handstands and head moves before showcasing some spectacular leg work throughout the remainder of her set.
While it wasn’t enough to score her points from the judges, Raygun said she had put it all out there on the floor.
“I got more comfortable as the day went on and so because I knew this was the last battle and my last chance, I put it all out there and I just had fun with it,” she said.
Raygun has been seen as the face of the sport in Australia in the lead up to the Paris Olympics, and said that the support she has received has been incredible.
“I still feel like I'm in a little bit of a bubble over here, so it's going to be weird checking the phone and realising that everyone that I've ever known just about also watched,” she said.
“I'm not used to everyone seeing my breaking competitions, so this one's definitely different.
“It's been lovely getting messages of support from people I used to go to school with, to old students, to old teachers, to extended family. It's been amazing.”
This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here
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