Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has received her latest honor following her infamous performance at the Paris Olympics.
Gunn shot to international prominence following her widely mocked display in break dancing’s first and likely last appearance at an Olympic Games.
Upon her return to Australia, the 37-year-old learned she had somehow become the No. 1 ranked breaker in the world.
Now, Gunn has been immortalized — for a while, anyway — in a statue that surfaced this week in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.
While it’s more papier mache than bronze, the statue depicts Gunn’s signature “kangaroo” move and stands proudly on a local nature strip.
Created by an unknown artist, the piece was initially unearthed by a caller on Melbourne radio station 3AW.
“Following on from her huge success of breakdancing in Paris, Raygun is now dancing in the streets of the north,” the caller said.
When he was shown an image of the statue, 3AW host Ross Stevenson couldn’t help but be impressed.
“That is amazing,” he said. “That is awesome. Someone’s put up a statue of Raygun.
“Is that in someone’s backyard or in a public thoroughfare?”
The caller replied: “It’s in a public thoroughfare, on the nature strip.”
Stevenson added: “That is outstanding.
“Look at the balance they’ve managed to achieve there with that statue. How do you do that?”
The statue has been compiled with the help of some rubber gloves, a tracksuit and even an Olympic flag.
Raygun was catapulted into the world No. 1 ranking thanks to the 1000 points she claimed for winning the WDSF Oceania Championship which booked her a spot in the Olympics.
Despite her new found home as the world No. 1, Raygun stated she would be stepping away from competition in her first sit-down interview.
“I don’t think I’ll be competing for a while. Not really wanting to be in the spotlight, breaking, competing,” she said on The Project last month.
“It’s been nice. It’s been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again.
“Like, that’s actually been tough. You know, it was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress.
“So, I’m really happy that it gets to go back to being my medicine.
“I can kind of finally feel free again. I’m looking forward to breaking, but, no, I don’t think I’ll compete for a while.”
Gunn continued to attract worldwide headlines well after the Games, with the Macquarie University academic spotted dining with Boy George before making an appearance alongside Richard Branson.
It likely won’t be the last we see of the divisive figure either after she reportedly caught the attention of the producers of Channel 10 show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!”
The show, which throws a range of celebrities into a campsite and involves a range of challenges and eliminations before a winner is announced, aired its 10th season earlier this year.
Not surprisingly, Gunn is considered a perfect addition for the next series, a source told New Idea magazine.
Gunn has even signed with influencer marketing agency Born Bred Talent, a move she confirmed when she added a contact from the agency to her bio on Instagram.
She can now update her bio further by adding the world No. 1 ranking to her list of credentials and even her own statue.
