The eccentric Australian breakdancer who took the Paris Olympic Games by storm has been hit by a huge setback while trying to trademark the moniker she has become known by.
Rachael Gunn, otherwise known by her nickname Raygun, became a global source of ridicule during the Paris Olympics.
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.
Now that she’s returned to Australia, following a European vacation, the divisive dancer appears to be striking while the iron is hot and making the most of her newfound fame.
However, the 37-year-old academic has failed in an attempt to trademark the name Raygun.
Gunn made an application to register the name on August 23 with the Australian trademarks office.
She has hoping to secure the name to use for various purposes, including software, clothing and entertainment.
Unfortunately, Gunn’s claim was knocked back earlier this month as it clashed with preexisting trademarks.
It is not clear if Gunn will continue to chase ownership of her moniker.
On Tuesday evening, Gunn launched a new competition on Instagram.
In the footage, Raygun is seen in an oversized white tee shirt, baggy pants and a denim shirt. She added a black bucket to her ensemble.
‘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 lurching into her signature kangaroo pose before challenging her followers to the ultimatum, ‘Let’s find out.’
Raygun is then seen breaking out some of her signature dance moves in a stark white room in the heavily edited clip. At one point she even spins on her head.
At the end of the video, Raygun is seen chuckling as competition details for the finder.com.au promotion float above her head.
The winning solo dancer could take home a whopping $5k in prize money, with $10k being awarded to the best dance crew.
It comes after Raygun recently debuted a new look in Australia’s Stellar Magazine.
In the cover shoot, Raygun swapped her green and gold tracksuit and baseball cap for a figure-hugging electric blue dress with flared sleeves.
The academic-turned-breakdancer looks defiant as she poses hands on hips against a yellow nylon backdrop.
Raygun 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 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.
