When breakdancing made its debut at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport quickly had its rising star: B-Girl Raygun, a 36-year-old Australian college professor.

Raygun, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, went viral after her performance in Paris on Friday, where she competed with B-girls in their late teens and early twenties with unique dance moves that quickly became the focus of memes and jokes on social media.

Gunn did not win a medal in Paris, losing her three round bouts by a score of 54-0.

In response to online criticism of Gunn’s performance, she defended her skills, telling reporters that she expressed “creativity” in her performance.

“I could never beat those girls at what they do best – their power moves,” Gunn said, according to ESPN. “What I bring is creativity.”

“All of my moves are original,” she continued. “Creativity is really important to me. I go out there and show my artistry. Sometimes it appeals to the judges, sometimes it doesn’t. I do my thing and it represents art. That’s what it’s about.”

On social media, some users called one of Gunn’s moves “the kangaroo,” while others compared her dance moves to when a child asks you to watch their performance.

“I want to personally thank Raygun for making millions of people around the world think, ‘Hmm, maybe I can make it to the Olympics,'” said one user. wrote on X, next to a photo of Raygun’s Olympic performance.

Online criticism of Gunn’s performance prompted Australia’s Chef de Mission, Anna Meares, to publicly express her support for her performance on Saturday.

“I love Rachael and I think what happened on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors and that those comments got airtime was really disappointing,” Meares said at a press conference, according to ESPN. “Raygun is an absolutely beloved member of this Olympic team. She represented the Olympic team and the Olympic spirit with great enthusiasm. And I love her bravery. I love her character and I’m very disappointed for her that she was attacked like that.”

On Sunday, the head judge of the breaking competition in Paris defended Gunn, while the chairman of the World DanceSport Federation said officials would look after her “mental safety” following the online criticism.

“Breakdancing is about originality and bringing something new and representing your country or region,” said head judge Martin Gilian at a press conference, according to the Associated Press. “That’s exactly what Raygun did. She was inspired by her surroundings, which in this case was a kangaroo, for example.”

Sergey Nifontov, secretary general of the World DanceSport Federation, added of Gunn’s mental health, according to AP: “We have offered the support of our safety officer. We are aware of what happened, especially on social media, and we should definitely put the athlete’s safety, in this case mental safety, first. She has our support as a federation.”

According to her Olympia biography, Gunn is a former jazz and ballroom dancer who got into the sport of breakdancing through her husband Samuel, who has been breakdancing for a decade.

Gunn started breakdancing in her mid-20s and became Australia’s highest ranked B-girl in 2020 and 2021.

Last year she won the QMS Oceania Championships in Sydney, becoming the first Australian to secure a place in the B-Girl competition at the Olympic Games, according to her biography.

When she’s not breakdancing, Gunn, who has a PhD in cultural studies, is a researcher and lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, where she studies, as her university biography states, “the cultural politics of breakdancing.”

Gunnt, who is both a breakdancer and a researcher, said on the podcast “The (Female) Athlete Project” that there are “always two important things in my bag: my knee pads and my laptop.”

While in Paris, Gunn shared a photo of herself in the Australian team uniform on Instagram with the caption: “Don’t be afraid to be different. Go out there and represent yourself. You never know where that will take you.”