RAYGUN

Rachael attended Barker College before pursuing her studies at Macquarie University, where she completed a bachelor's degree in contemporary music in 2009. She furthered her academic qualifications by earning a PhD in cultural studies in 2017.

Her thesis titled ‘Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl's Experience of B-boying,’ focused on the breaking culture in Sydney.

Before discovering breakdancing, Gunn was trained in jazz, tap and ballroom dancing. It was Samuel Free, her boyfriend at the time and later her husband, who encouraged her to explore breakdancing.

She began breakdancing in the early 2010s when she was in her mid-twenties. Gunn took a break from competing to focus on completing her PhD but returned to competitions in 2018, dedicating three to four hours daily to training.

As one of Australia’s top-ranked B-girls, she represented her country at the World Championships from 2021 to 2023.

In 2023, she won the Oceania Breaking Championships, securing a spot for herself for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Raygun’s Olympic debut saw her lose the first two battles but she turned up the heat in her third battle against Nicka, pulling off several original moves.

Although her performance didn’t earn her points from the judges, Raygun remained proud of her unique approach.

“I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way,” she said after competing at the Games. “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 in a lifetime to do that on an international stage?”

Breaking head judge Martin Gilian, known in the breaking community as ‘MGbility,’ said Raygun’s score did not mean she did not do well.

“Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” he reasoned. “This is exactly what Raygun was doing.”

Beyond breaking, Raygun is a dedicated lecturer in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Literature and Language at Macquarie University in Sydney. Her academic interests span dance, performance, media, autoethnography, post-structuralist and feminist theory.