Untold: Raygun Breaking Badly

The backstory to the infamous Breakdancing competition at the 2024 Olympics that, in typical Netflix style, doesn’t tell us what we should think.

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The viewer is allowed to weigh the information provided of Rachael Gunn’s path from child ballerina to her qualifying for the Olympics. We see how, after qualifying, she trained at the gym and worked with her husband to create sequences she could use in the competition. We also learn that the pressure of the situation created some mental health issues for her.

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Most illuminating is the interview footage. Aside from the comments from her husband, everyone else that Netflix interviewed was dumbfounded by Raygun's qualifying. Nobody could believe it. Not her parents, not the Australian b-girls, not even Rachael herself (which should have rung some alarm bells in her head).

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Rachael Gunn is a privileged white girl who was not steeped in hiphop culture. She didn’t practice with a crew, living and breathing breaking, as most b-girls do. She took it on in her 20s because her boyfriend at the time was doing it.

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It’s unfortunate Rachael didn’t slow down and consider the reason for her anxiety and the feelings of imposter syndrome she was haunted by on the run-up to the big competition.

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It appears like the idea that she would be 'an Olympian' was just so ego-boosting that she wasn’t willing to consider for a moment if she was good enough to compete at an elite level. It seems that there was a complete lack of humility, and that she didn’t have anyone around her willing to tell her the hard truth.

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Understandably, the backlash of her performance was difficult to manage. Being dragged on a global level is not a walk in the park. But with the help of Sir Richard Branson, spending a few months abroad, and the support of her husband and parents, she has been able to positively frame the experience and embrace the notoriety that her signature moves gave her.

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My conclusion is that because of a series of miraculously lucky outcomes, Raygun found herself in a position she didn’t belong. And because the person closest to her didn’t want to acknowledge the truth of the situation, and Rachael herself wasn’t humble or courageous enough to back out, she did her best in a situation where she was in way over her head.

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