{"id":1037968,"date":"2026-09-02T02:14:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T02:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1037968\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T02:14:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T02:14:39","slug":"raygun-reveals-how-her-mental-health-is-doing-after-being-reduced-to-a-meme-at-paris-olympics-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1037968\/","title":{"rendered":"Raygun Reveals How Her Mental Health Is Doing After Being \u2018Reduced to a Meme\u2019 at Paris Olympics (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Viral Olympic breaker Raygun tells PEOPLE which parts of her Netflix Untold episode were &#8220;difficult to watch,&#8221; two years after going viral in Paris<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Raygun, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, admits she understands why her fellow B-girls slammed her in the documentary<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Next, Gunn is hoping to do &#8220;something creative&#8221; and keep inspiring people to embrace being themselves<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Two years after <a data-ylk=\"slk:Rachael Gunn;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/olympic-breakdancer-raygun-claps-back-at-critics-8693632\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Rachael Gunn<\/a> competed in the inaugural breaking event at the 2024 Paris Olympics under the name <a data-ylk=\"slk:B-girl Raygun;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/who-is-olympian-australian-breaker-raygun-8694017\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">B-girl Raygun<\/a>, she has a message for the world: &#8220;Come at me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I&#8217;m ready this time,&#8221; Gunn, 38, tells PEOPLE as she prepares to tell her story \u2014 one marred by ruthless critics, baseless accusations and vicious rumors \u2014 in Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, out Tuesday, Sept. 1 on Netflix.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Some parts were absolutely difficult to watch,&#8221; says Gunn, a doctor of Cultural Studies from Macquarie University, whose thesis explored &#8220;de-territorializing gender&#8221; in the breaking community in Sydney, Australia, where she fell in love with the sport after first falling in love with her husband, Samuel Free, who formerly competed under the name B-boy Sammy Sex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Days after Gunn&#8217;s performance became a major headline of the Paris Games, unfounded allegations against Free, 39, accused him of being a member of the Australian Breaking Association, thereby suggesting he was the reason his wife represented Australia in the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Raygun competes at the 2024 Paris OlympicsCredit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"717\" height=\"960\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/664dd859f7907c250baf9d4902500dc6.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Raygun competes at the 2024 Paris Olympics<br \/>Credit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gunn describes it as a &#8220;really tough&#8221; situation, especially as they navigated the viral backlash from her performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Even Gunn&#8217;s haters will tell you the rumor is false. Breaking Badly includes interviews from two of Gunn&#8217;s peers, B-girl Flix and B-girl Tinylocks, Gunn&#8217;s fellow athletes in the Sydney breaking community. Flix will tell viewers she was &#8220;offended&#8221; and &#8220;embarrassed&#8221; by Raygun&#8217;s performance in Paris, and Tinylocks describes Gunn&#8217;s pre-Olympic performance as &#8220;sloppy,&#8221; adding, &#8220;but then again, she always was.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Follow your favorite athletes on and off the field with <a data-ylk=\"slk:PEOPLE&#039;s free sports newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-sports-newsletter-signup-11947275\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">PEOPLE&#8217;s free sports newsletter<\/a> \u2014 sign up now!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, Flix admits Gunn &#8220;was the best B-girl on that day,&#8221; and the doc makes clear that Gunn won the spot on Team Australia fair and square.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gunn was told &#8220;towards the end of the process that, yes,&#8221; Flix and Tinylocks would be interviewed for the project. &#8220;And then I hadn&#8217;t seen anything until I sat down and watched it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Even after watching Flix tell Netflix viewers she was &#8220;offended&#8221; and &#8220;embarrassed&#8221; by Raygun&#8217;s performance in Paris, Gunn says she understands the criticism from her fellow breakers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;To be honest, it was a really hard time for breakers around the world, and it was an especially hard time for Australian B girls because of the attention that the community got, the scrutiny, the harassment. So people respond to that in different ways, so I understand that it was a hard time for them,&#8221; Gunn says.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Raygun competes at the 2024 Paris OlympicsCredit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/228b57630525fd768ebeba41ecc32adf.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Raygun competes at the 2024 Paris Olympics<br \/>Credit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And the harsh reviews from her fellow breakers weren&#8217;t even what stung Gunn the most. The hardest parts to watch were &#8220;all of the fast edits of the world&#8217;s reactions, and how big it got, the parts that were really tough at the time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, Netflix&#8217;s Breaking Badly has given Gunn closure on the incident she describes as being &#8220;reduced to a viral meme&#8221; by the world. &#8220;But also, it was like, wow, I got through that. We got through that. My husband and I, that&#8217;s amazing. We were kind of reminded of how insane it was, how absurd it was. So it was really cool to see me get through it at the end,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gunn shares in Breaking Badly that she was prescribed antidepressants before the Games. &#8220;It was a few months before, and yeah, I mean, look, it threw things off, definitely, but also it eventually did help and calmed that anxiety,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;But to be honest, it was all part of the chaotic sundae that I was eating between the elite sports gym at 6 a.m. with people that&#8217;ve been athletes since they were three, training again in the afternoon and night, do the recovery, worry about your diet, do the 6 a.m. drug test because they&#8217;re knocking on your door. It was just chaos, it was crazy, but to be honest, I think [the medication] probably gave me a good little baseline to deal with what the world threw at me next.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Raygun on April 17, 2024 in AustraliaCredit: Cameron Spencer\/Getty\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/d8953b485712bc198b7097b78de9428d.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Raygun on April 17, 2024 in Australia<br \/>Credit: Cameron Spencer\/Getty<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Two years removed from the world&#8217;s crushing criticism, Gunn says her mental health is &#8220;good&#8221; these days. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t take that for granted. It&#8217;s something that I&#8217;m constantly checking in on, and if I need to pull back from things, if I need to just take it easy at home, then I do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Although she has yet to enter another 1v1 since the Olympics, Gunn tells PEOPLE she&#8217;s &#8220;entered just some small local jams&#8221; with her crew. &#8220;I&#8217;ve entered with some up-and-coming B-girls, give them some experience, and it&#8217;s been really nice to just go back in and support the scene and be part of the community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Raygun competes in the 2024 Paris OlympicsCredit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/464ca7841a5b5320bfdca15c76d04ccd.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Raygun competes in the 2024 Paris Olympics<br \/>Credit: Ezra Shaw\/Getty<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Now, she&#8217;s ready for her next chapter. &#8220;I might have some things in my back pocket,&#8221; she says. &#8220;But I hope that this opens doors, to be honest,&#8221; she adds of Breaking Badly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I&#8217;d really like to do something fun and something creative. I&#8217;m definitely up for the unexpected. And if I can just continue to advocate for being yourself, being for creativity, for dance, for the arts, then that&#8217;d be amazing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">No matter what comes next for Gunn, she&#8217;s &#8220;prepared for the twists and turns now,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I think certainly this whole experience has made me a lot stronger, a lot more resilient. But it&#8217;s been really nice that I&#8217;ve had a chance to share my experiences through some speaking gigs and things like that and try and inspire people to be themselves and to get through what life throws at you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a data-ylk=\"slk:People;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/raygun-reveals-her-mental-health-after-being-reduced-to-meme-at-paris-olympics-exclusive-12070265\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Viral Olympic breaker Raygun tells PEOPLE which parts of her Netflix Untold episode were &#8220;difficult&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1037969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[36],"tags":[1907,227133,133775,415195,210,517,329714,415196,383459,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1037968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-breaking","tag-ezra-shaw","tag-getty","tag-gunn","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-paris-olympics","tag-rachael-gunn","tag-raygun","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117199037336743425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1037968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1037969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1037968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1037968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1037968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}