Dancing physician Rachael Gunn by no means thought that breaking could be an Olympic sport, not to mention that she’d be representing Australia at 2024 Video games.
With 30 days to go earlier than Paris is overrun with sportsmen and fanatics alike, the Sydneysider reckons she nonetheless has to pinch herself typically from the thrill.
It is a distinctive alternative to inform folks about the kind of road dance that bewildered many when it first listed as a sport, the 36-year-old mentioned on Wednesday.
Gunn, often known as ‘Raygun’, can be joined by 16-year-old prodigy Jeff ‘J Assault’ Dunne, who is among the youngest Australians headed to France.
The pair can be amongst 16 males and 16 ladies breakers from all over the world to compete because the inaugural breakdancers within the Olympics, launched as a brand new sport for the Video games after it featured on the Summer season Youth Olympic Video games in Buenos Aires in 2018.
Gunn has taken the position of teaching folks about breaking fairly severely, with a PhD in cultural research wedged in her back-pocket.
“At greatest, they know nothing. At worst, it is a joke,” she mentioned at an ASICS’ Lace Up Australia occasion marking the ultimate month earlier than the Paris Video games.
“So many doorways have been closed simply because folks do not know what breaking is, or they do not assume that it is a critical athletic or inventive endeavour.”
The game’s stunning inclusion to the Olympics is a one-off, a lot to Gunn’s dismay, after it was snubbed from the Los Angeles 2028 program.
Whereas most athletes know what they’re dealing with after they land on the worldwide stage, all bets are off for Gunn, who will not know what music she’ll dance to till she competes.
“It is fairly intense. I am within the studio or the fitness center just about day-after-day,” she mentioned.
Practising combos and particular strikes, Gunn’s focus is on ensuring her dance strikes are clear and sharp.
“I am ensuring I am going on the market as ready as potential for no matter can occur,” she mentioned.
“I am calm, I am collected, and I am going on the market to have enjoyable, as a result of then typically one of the best stuff comes out.”
Chosen as considered one of Australia’s inaugural breakdancing Olympic athletes in February, the 36-year-old received the Oceania Breaking Championships alongsinde Dunne in 2023, which secured them berths on the 2024 Olympics.
Gunn is is not any stranger to the stage.
She ranked as the highest b-girl by the Australian Breaking Affiliation in 2020 and 2021 and represented Australia on the World Breaking Championships in Paris in 2021, in Seoul in 2022, and in Leuven (Belgium) in 2023.
