Raygun's Olympic ordeal, meme culture and her Netflix reckoning

When Australian breaker Rachael Gunn stepped onto the Paris Olympics stage, she likely didn't anticipate the global storm that would follow. The new Netflix documentary, 'Untold: Raygun Breaking Badly', chronicles the intense public reaction to her performance, which became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons.

In the film, Gunn reveals she had a premonition of the potential fallout. She recalls a panicked session with a therapist just before the Games, where she was asked to consider the worst-case scenario. Her answer was a chilling prediction: "The whole world could laugh at me."

That prediction came true. Her routine, which included moves like the kangaroo and the sprinkler, failed to earn a single point from the judges but succeeded in generating a torrent of memes and mockery online. Gunn admits that while some early jokes were humorous, the tone quickly soured, describing the experience as feeling like her life was "crumbling" and that she was "falling into a dark pit."

The documentary also addresses the wider consequences of the incident. Gunn speaks about the rumors surrounding her qualification and the personal toll it took, which led to her retirement from competition. The fallout was so significant that a planned musical based on her life had to be retitled after legal intervention.

Now, having stepped away from her university lecturing role, Gunn is redefining herself as a speaker and educator. The documentary serves as her attempt to reclaim her narrative, as she puts it, "I can't just be a meme."