And the movements were PARIS – Last Friday, we witnessed the debut of a new event at the Paris Olympics: breakdancing. As with other sports introduced to the Games in recent years, there was much debate about whether breakdancing – here organized as a tournament of head-to-head dance battles overseen by a panel of judges – could be considered a sport. But spectators certainly engaged with the characters in attendance, even if the formal setting deprived the art form of its characteristic coolness.
One of the breakdancing girls on stage at the women’s event (the men will perform on Saturday) was particularly interesting to those watching at home. Rachel Jean, whose stage name is Raegan, is a 36-year-old university professor from Australia. With a degree in music and a PhD in cultural studies, she is pursuing interdisciplinary research on breakdancing, street dance, hip-hop and gender at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Australian Rachel Gunn, known as Raegan, will compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on August 9, 2024.
Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images
Besides her extraordinary academic record, Jan stands out as being 20 years older than Australia’s men’s competitor – she and 16-year-old Jeff “J-Attack” Dunne won the Oceania Olympic break gymnastics championships to qualify for the Games. She also got into break gymnastics later in life than most who take it seriously, entering her first ever fight in 2012. But perhaps most importantly, Jan, Breaks This type of dance is molded with creative choices that leave the viewers amazed.
As she competed against competitors from Lithuania, France and the United States, social media was abuzz with Raegan’s signature kangaroo jumps, stunning floor moves and charmingly cheesy poses. Throughout the set, despite losing every round, her confidence remained unshakable. That confidence has always been key, she told CNBC in an interview earlier this month: “The younger competitors are great in their strength, their athleticism and their explosiveness,” she said. “But the older ones bring a different level of maturity to the dance.” (Japan’s Ami Yuasa, 25, won the gold.)
One of Jan’s fights was against Dominika “Nika” Panevic, a 17-year-old Lithuanian girl in a durag, who won the silver medal, so she can safely say she was beaten by one of the best female breakers in the world. Her resume is still impressive in its own right: she represented Australia at the annual World Breaking Championships worldwide, and was ranked number one in the Australian Breaking League in 2020 and 2021.
But winning a gold medal may not be the only way to inspire people. At its best, the Olympics are supposed to celebrate the vast diversity of human ability and experience. And Reagan’s routines made ordinary people wonder if they, too, could tap into hidden potential and rise to the highest levels of international sport. It took courage and determination—and talent—to get Jean to where she was on Friday. Don’t we want to reach for the stars ourselves?
Yes, you can keep your wrestling and riding skills. I can't sympathize with you. And as the 2024 Olympics draw to a close, we'll ride with Raegan.
