From Olympic laughingstock to cover girl.
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, who was mercilessly mocked for her break dancing performance at the Paris Olympics, appears on the cover of this week’s edition of the Australian magazine Stellar.
And on the cover, Raygun traded in her Olympic tracksuit for a stunning new look.
With her hair slicked back and pulled into a braid, the Olympian looked ravishing in a vibrant blue dress paired with strappy black sandals. Gunn also rocked a red lip to complete the glamorous look.
The full story is not released till Sunday, but the cover did feature this quote from Gunn: “You did not bring me down. You did not succeed. I still stand by what I did.”
Gunn’s performance at the Paris Games showed off a unique interpretation of the fledgling Olympic sport.
She lost all three of her breaking matches, 18-0, and was accused of disrespecting the Olympics by even accepting an invitation to participate.
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Japan’s Ami Yuasa took gold in the women’s Olympic breaking competition while Lithuania’s Dominika Banevic secured silver, and Liu Qingyi of China walked away with bronze.
Gunn received support from loved ones amid the international outcry, which she addressed in a candid Instagram video shared in August.
Raygun lost all three of her matches.
“I didn’t realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating,” Gunn, 36, said.
“While I went out there and I had fun, I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave my all, truly. I’m honored to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of breaking’s Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved has just been phenomenal.”
Gunn, an academic and lecturer at Macquarie University Faculty of Arts, was also honored with a statue that appeared in a Melbourne suburb earlier this month.
Although reality TV has been speculated to be Gunn’s next move, competing certainly is not.
“I don’t think I’ll be competing for a while. Not really wanting to be in the spotlight, breaking, competing,” Gunn said during a sit-down on “The Project.”
“It’s been nice. It’s been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again.
“Like, that’s actually been tough. You know, it was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress.”
That said, Gunn is “happy that it gets to go back to being my medicine.”
“I can kind of finally feel free again. I’m looking forward to breaking, but, no, I don’t think I’ll compete for a while,” Gunn said.
Breaking will not be back at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.