Raygun speaks out on 'being reduced to a meme' for viral Olympics performance

Raygun, the viral sensation from the latest Olympics in Paris, has spoken out on the effect that being ‘reduced to a meme’ had on her mental health.

The most recent Olympics produced numerous viral stories, from the casual Turkish marksman Yusuf Dikeç to Snoop Dogg being an honorary Team USA coach, but none developed quite as much interest as the Australian breakdancer.

Raygun, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, has spoken out ahead of the release of a new Netflix documentary Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly.

The Australian breakdancer took part in three breakdance battles at the Olympics, receiving no votes from judges and thus failing to proceed past the initial round of the competition.

Her performance went viral as fans online slammed the performance, with many memes being less than flattering. Gunn has now spoken out ahead of Netflix's doc and has even stated she watched back her performance and thought it was ‘not that bad’.

Being ‘reduced to a meme’ had a significant impact on her mental health

Raygun has revealed she's been in therapy to cope with the reaction to her performance (Odd ANDERSEN / AFP via Getty Images)

The breakdancer has told PEOPLE Magazine that she is now ‘ready’ for the world after she received brutal abuse following her viral performance.

Whilst some of the criticism she received was simply internet trolling, some came from her peers, with fellow Australian breakdancer Flix telling Netflix in the doc that she was ‘embarrassed’ and ‘offended’ by her performance.

Gunn said: “To be honest, it was a really hard time for breakers around the world, and it was an especially hard time for Australian B girls because of the attention that the community got, the scrutiny, the harassment.

Raygun is speaking out in a new documentary (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

“So people respond to that in different ways, so I understand that it was a hard time for them.”

She stated that the worst part was ‘all of the fast edits of the world’s reactions, and how big it got, the parts that were really tough at the time.’

The breakdancer was on anti-depressant medication prior to the viral fame, and went on to say that her mental health is ‘good’ now, adding: “But I don’t take that for granted. It’s something that I’m constantly checking in on, and if I need to pull back from things, if I need to just take it easy at home, then I do that.”

Raygun watched back her performance and thought it was ‘not that bad’

The breakdancer stated in an interview with CNN, via The Guardian, that it had taken her time to watch back her performance at the Paris Olympics.

She stated: “I had seen the performance itself [prior to watching the documentary]. I can’t remember why, but I ended up watching it and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not as bad as I thought!’”

Discussing why she’s now chosen to tell her story, Raygun said: “I’ve got distance. It’s given me some time and space to process everything that’s happened. I’ve really focused on my mental health, and I feel like I’m in a good place to share my side of the story.

“There was a lot of misinformation, conspiracy theories and speculation.

“There was a lot of noise, and I think there’s something to be said for waiting for that noise to die down.”

Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly is available to stream on Netflix tomorrow, 1 September.