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Olympic breakdancer Raygun is viral sensation: fails epically with awesomeness

Breakdancing controversially became an Olympic sport, debuting at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The verdict is still out, but Australian Rachel Gunn won our hearts.
Matthew Graham|
Aug 9, 2024: Nicka (Lithuania), Ami (Japan) and 671 (China) in the medal ceremony for breaking during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at La Concorde.
Aug 9, 2024: Nicka (Lithuania), Ami (Japan) and 671 (China) in the medal ceremony for breaking during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at La Concorde. | Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

If Snoop Dogg introduces your sport, and not in a comedic NBC skit way, are you really a sport?

That is the question fans have to answer as breakdancing, or as it’s officially called at the Olympics, breaking, made its official debut at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. And while Japan’s B-Girl Ami (real name Ami Yuasa) took home the first ever gold medal, there was only one clear winner on social media - Raygun.

Rachel “Raygun” Gunn, a 36-year-old, PhD-educated teacher, is quite simply the stuff of legend.

Napoleon Dynamite wishes he had ever made it to the Olympics. Gosh! While other sports at the Paris Olympics are all about elite athleticism, Raygun provides pure entertainment. Was there athleticism? Somewhat.

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What is clear is that Raygun owned social media, as this clip above has already reached 5 million views as of this posting. The “Seinfeld” one is also at 1 million. This one below is at 1.8 million.

According to Yahoo Sports, her boyfriend, now husband, introduced her to breakdancing in her 20s, and she qualified for the Olympics fair and square.

“It was amazing,” Raygun said. “Such an amazing experience. What a stage, what an arena, what a crowd. Music was great. Like, oh, so, so grateful for the opportunity.”

Oh, as far as failing epically, she lost 18-0, 18-0, 18-0 in however breaking is scored.

It doesn’t matter though. She scored a perfect 10 with the internet.

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Matthew Graham
MATTHEW GRAHAM

Matthew Graham has over 20 years of media experience and oversees The Athlete Lifestyle On SI. He has had previous leadership roles at NBC Sports, Yahoo, and USA TODAY, where he co-founded For The Win (named Best Mobile Site by Digiday). He has also written for ESPN, Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, People, E! Online, and FHM, covering major sports and entertainment events like the Oscars, the Golden Globes, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, and winning the Yahoo Superstar Award for coverage of the Olympics.