She was a highly divisive figure after her performance at the Paris Olympics earlier this year – and now breakdancer Raygun has been blasted online after issuing her fans with a challenge that ‘really hurt to watch’.
It comes after the Australian Olympian, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, became a global source of ridicule at the Games.
Dressed in an Australian tracksuit that looked more like a cricket uniform than a breakdancing get-up, Raygun hopped like a kangaroo and slid around the floor like a snake in a routine that did not impress the judges.
On Tuesday, the 37-year-old raised eyebrows after she launched a new competition on Instagram.
In the footage, Raygun can be seen in an oversized white T-shirt, baggy pants and a denim shirt.
‘I’ve heard some of you think you can do better,’ she says, staring down the barrel of the camera preparing to dance.
‘Really?’ she adds in disbelief, cracking her knuckles.
She is then seen launching into her signature kangaroo pose before challenging her followers by saying, ‘Let’s find out.’
It didn’t long for her followers on Instagram to voice some blunt opinions.
‘My dog can do better than that,’ savagely posted one in response.
Another said: ‘Bloody hell, she’s cringe.’
A third weighed in with: ‘That really hurt to watch…can you at least do a backflip or something.’
At the end of the video, Raygun is seen chuckling as competition details for the finder.com.au promotion are revealed.
The winning solo dancer could take home $5000 in prize money, with $10,000 awarded to the best dance crew.
It comes after Raygun recently debuted a new look in Australia’s Stellar Magazine.
In the cover shoot, she swapped her green and gold tracksuit and baseball cap for a figure-hugging electric blue dress with flared sleeves.
The Sydney-based academic looked defiant as she posed hands on hips against a yellow nylon backdrop.
Raygun also wore her hair slicked back into a long pony tail for the shoot and went for a bronzed makeup look with dark red lipstick.
She completed her look with a pair of strappy black heels.
The accompanying cover line reads, ‘What Raygun did next?’, alongside a quote taken from the accompanying interview inside.
‘You did not bring me down. You [haters] did not succeed. I will stand by what I did,’ she says.
Raygun was comprehensively beaten in all of her battle rounds in Paris, while her routine was mocked by the likes of The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and singer Adele.
In a huge twist, she returned from Paris to be named the No.1 breakdancer in the world – despite not even coming close to winning a medal due to a quirk in the way dancers are graded.
But ahead of Halloween this week, she is receiving a new honour on the front lawns of Aussie homes, with handmade tributes to her routine being erected.
A Melbourne resident has immortalised her kangaroo hopping routine with a paper mache effigy complete with Aussie tracksuit and Olympics flag.
The artist remains unknown, but a listener called into radio station 3AW to let them know the ‘statue’ had been erected on a nature strip in their suburb.
‘Following on from her huge success of breakdancing in Paris, Raygun is now dancing in the streets of Melbourne,’ the caller said.
