The internet’s attention span may be egregiously short, but we simply cannot forget Rachael Gunn (stage name Raygun), the woman who inspired the world with her breakdancing skills over the summer at the Paris Olympics. She’s back in the news cycle, now, after implying that she was retiring, but it may not be that serious.

“I still break, but I don’t compete. I’m not gonna compete anymore,” the Olympian told Australia’s Today FM on Tuesday, fueling reports that she was retiring as a result of the ridicule she faced over her performance during the inaugural breakdancing event at the 2024 Olympic Games. Gunn confessed that the “level of scrutiny” and the prospect of her performances being filmed and ed online would ruin the experience of competing. “I still dance, and I still break. But, you know, that’s like, in my living room with my partner.”

Two days later, the B-girl ed the television program The Project to clarify her statements. “Raygun’s not retiring,” she reassured, explaining that the only things that she is leaving in the past are “elite competitions and the Olympics,” before reminding those listening that the Los Angeles Games will no longer include breakdancing in its sports roster, anyway.

So, fret not, Raygun-heads, the star has confirmed she is “still going to dance,” even if only at community jams. “It’s different in breaking culture,” she said. Jam sessions were the starting point of breakdancing as a sport and they’re still the beating heart of its culture now. Per Campus Times, a jam blends “competition, performance, and ritual,” and fosters a much more collaborative environment than dance battles where even the audience can get involved. As a result, these sessions probably provide a much more welcoming scenario for Gunn, who says her life never returned to normal after Paris.

Readers will recall that the dancer did not make it past the first round (known as the round-robin stage) of the breaking event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, receiving zero points in all three battles against American, French, and Lithuanian competitors. Her moves, including a country-appropriate kangaroo hop and floor-wiping wriggling, quickly blew up on the internet, “meme’d” and recreated to death in the span of just a few days. Then came the conspiracy theories that accused the 37-year-old of cheating her way to the Olympic stage by having her husband judge the Oceania Breaking Championships which served as the Olympic qualifiers.

Gunn called the hate “devastating” in an Instagram video. But at least “the energy in person is always very different from the energy online,” she told The Project about interacting with people who now recognize her on the street. “In person, people have been lovely, it’s been really amazing.”

There you have it, folks! Raygun may not be competing anymore, but she is still going to be an active participant in the breakdancing world, because no matter how hard people tried to tear her down online, even starting a Charge.org petition calling for an investigation, Gunn is still the woman who made it to the Olympics doing the thing she loves most. Her haters, meanwhile, will always be just mean people on the internet.

Anna Delvey may very well be the most controversial contestant in Dancing With The Stars‘ history, but Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte once had protestors storming the stage to remind everyone he was a “liar.”

The athlete was famously involved in a debacle during the 2016 Rio Olympics that nearly landed him in jail. A few months later, he was invited to be a part of the 23rd season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, where he made it all the way to week eight alongside partner Cheryl Burke.

His first time on the dancefloor dancing the Foxtrot to Bobby Darin’s “Call Me Irresponsible” (an intentional choice of song, we’re sure) was disrupted by multiple protestors, two of which approached the pair as they prepared to hear their scores from the judges.

A brief history of “Lochtegate”

You know it’s bad when they give your scandal the -gate suffix. It all started in the early morning hours of Aug. 15, 2016, when, after a night of partying, a group of inebriated American Olympians including Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger visited a gas station in the Brazillian city, vandalized the bathrooms and other property and tried to escape, before the security guard approached, forced them out of their taxi at gunpoint, and ordered they pay for the damages.

Before CCTV footage of the incident was released to international media, however, Lochte claimed the foursome had been robbed at gunpoint by armed men with police badges. Given that the Rio Olympics had been clouded in some controversy related to infrastructures, organization, and general safety and health concerns, a decorated athlete from arguably the most influential nation in the world falling victim to a crime of that kind was a big deal.

Lochte left Brazil the next day after speaking to the police only once to report the false crime. His teammates were further questioned, with Conger and Bentz opting to stick to the facts, and Feigen releasing a statement and public apology. The 12-time Olympic medalist was eventually charged with making a false statement, but the court later dismissed the case. The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming suspended Lochte for 10 months.

The men who stormed the DWTS stage

During the taping for Night 1 of Dancing With The Stars season 23, on September 12, 2016, 59-year-old Sam Sotoodeh and 25-year-old Barzeen Soroudi approached Lochte, Burke, the judges, and host Tom Bergeron wearing anti-Lochte shirts and yelling “Liar.” They were immediately tackled by police and handcuffed, leading to their arrest and subsequent tresing charges.

Speaking to the media, the two men, who had been ed by multiple other protestors in the stands wearing similar t-shirts, said they wanted to take a stand against Lochte’s actions which “embarrassed Americans on the world stage,” per Soroudi. “Lochte is a coward, a liar, and, under Brazillian law, a criminal,” the older gentleman told ABC News, adding, in a different clip from ExtraTV, that the group had tried to Dancing With Stars via e-mail, letter, and phone calls, to no avail. “We’re protesting that such a liar, such a bad person, is being made a star in the United States,” he stated. If they were this upset over Locthe, we’re now wondering what they make of Anna Delvey’s casting.

Lochte’s career was never the same after the Rio incident, and he never made it back to the Olympic stage, despite trying one last time in 2020. In 2018 he was suspended again, this time for 14 months, for receiving a prohibited intravenous infusion, and in 2023, he was tragically involved in a serious car crash that left him in a wheelchair for months after fracturing his femur. The former swimmer has made a near-full recovery, and continues to practice his ion by teaching kids across the country to swim via his Lifetime Swim Clinic.

Shaine Casas was destined for greatness from the first moment he hit the water. His competition track record ushered him into the spotlight, and his participation in the recently concluded Paris Olympics has begun to garner some well-deserved attention.

The 2024 games saw a number of rising stars fight to etch their names in history, and Casas is one of them. But as he paddles into more and more success, many people are becoming curious about his ethnic background, and where he comes from.

Who is Shaine Casas?

Born on Dec. 25, 1999, Casas is an American swimmer who has rapidly made a name for himself in the world of competitive swimming. With his incredible versatility, Casas has proven he’s not a one-stroke wonder, but a force to be reckoned with across multiple events. Casas grew up in McAllen, Texas. His rise through the ranks has been nothing short of meteoric, and his potential seems limitless. At 6’4, Shaine Casas is also a gentle giant, often donning a larger-than-life smile.

But he wasn’t always the swimming phenom he is today. In fact, he didn’t even start swimming seriously until he was about 12 years old—a relatively late start compared to many of his peers. But once he found his groove, it was clear that he had a natural talent for the sport.

Casas was a 3-time varsity swimmer during his time at McAllen High School. He first burst onto the national scene in 2017 at the Summer Junior Nationals where he won several medals. That same year, he made his verbal commitment to swim for Texas A&M University. He quickly caught the attention of the swimming community with his standout performances, particularly in the backstroke and individual medley events.

He was breaking and setting records left and right. By the time the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials rolled around, Casas was considered one of the top swimmers to watch. However, he sadly didn’t score a spot in the U.S. Olympic swimming team. Although he narrowly missed the opportunity, his performances were a clear indication that he was on the cusp of something special.

In the years since Shaine Casas has continued to hone his skills and build his reputation. He has proven himself as one of the top swimmers in the U.S., setting multiple American records and earning a spot on the U.S. National Team. Come 2024, Casas finally earned a spot in the U.S. Olympic swimming team after the trials. During the games in Paris, he was in 9th place in the 200m Individual Medley for men.

What is Shaine Casas’ ethnicity?

One aspect of Shaine Casas’s story that adds an extra layer of interest is his ethnicity. Casas was born to Monica Epling and James Epling and is half-Black and half-Cuban. Growing up in a predominantly Hispanic community in South Texas, Casas’s cultural background has played a significant role in shaping who he is both in and out of the pool.

In a sport that has historically lacked diversity, Casas’s presence is a breath of fresh air. He’s become an inspiration for young swimmers and all athletes who come from underrepresented communities. Looking ahead, the future is incredibly bright for Shaine Casas. Given his track record and the determination he’s shown, it’s hard to bet against him.

Ryan Lochte is one of the most decorated male swimmers of all time, and when it comes to Olympic medals he’s second only to Michael Phelps. However, the athlete’s life has been plagued by hardships that go far beyond the pressures of the swimming pool.

After athletic success, including a total of 90 medals and two world records across competitions, the name Lochte is probably more easily associated with “Lochtegate,” the nickname given by the public and media to the scandal the swimmer and three of his U.S. teammates were involved in during the 2016 Rio Olympics. After a night out celebrating the end of a triumphant few days of competition, the Americans stopped at a gas station where they then claimed they had been robbed at gunpoint.

A police investigation and CCTV footage later revealed that was not the whole story. A man did seem to be pointing a gun at the group, and one of the athletes was seen taking out his wallet to pay him, but what the clip also revealed was that the Olympians had vandalized the station’s public toilet. Later, Brazilian police claimed the gunman was actually a security guard trying to convince the men to get out of the car and pay for the damages.

Lochte was charged with false testimony by the Rio de Janeiro authorities and suspended for 10 months by the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming. The charges were dropped a year later, but his character as the most famous person involved in the ordeal was forever stained. A 14-month suspension in 2018 for doping didn’t help matters, either.

Adding to these rocky events, privately Lochte has also dealt with a contentious relationship with his family and, especially, his mother, bouts of depression, and a devastating car crash that he considers himself lucky to have survived.

So, where is Ryan Lochte now?

After retirement, the Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medalist has been dedicating his time to raising his three children and teaching other people’s children how to swim by partnering with Lifetime Fitness and traveling the country, while also doing his fair share of television appearances including The Traitors and Celebrity Big Brother. The project and his family, he told First Coast News in July, have helped him deal with feeling lost and depressed after hanging up his trunks and goggles.

For months now, Lochte has also been putting most of his energy into recovering from a violent road accident that left his femur broken in half and the swimmer unable to walk in November of 2023. He was on his way to pick up his kids from school when he ran into a trash truck that was parked in the middle of the road, with its hazard lights turned off. According to his description of the events, Lochte only noticed it when the car in front of him successfully swerved the truck, but unfortunately, the swimmer wasn’t as fast.

He recently shared a milestone video on social media of him going for a run. “From a wheelchair to a walker to crutches, to one crutch, to being able to run … in less than a year,” his wife, model Kayla Rae Reid, commented. Speaking on the Athletes Only Podcast in January, Lochte choked up as he described the trauma he had suffered, both physical and psychological. “Not knowing that I would wake up and see my family again (…) I’m so thankful. In a blink of an eye, your life can be over,” he expressed, emotionally. He’s on the road to a full recovery now.

For lovers of snowboarding and skateboarding, Shaun White is a legend and household name. The professional snowboarder, skateboarder and musician has achieved so much in his long and thrilling career. 

Mentored by none other than Tony Hawk, White became a pro skateboarder at 16. He also switched from skiing to snowboarding as early as six years old, and has since been crowned as one of the greats! He holds numerous world records, and is widely regarded by many as the best snowboarder of all time. White was also the first person to compete and medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games.

The best to ever do it

Born with a congenital heart defect, White already had two open-heart surgeries before he was a year old. His older brother, Jesse, was his motivation to make the switch to snowboarding. Due to his red hair, he was nicknamed “The Flying Tomato,” but beyond his incredible skill, Shaun White was, and still is loved for his charming personality. He would go on to win the gold medal in the snowboarding halfpipe event in the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Olympics. 

In 2017, the athlete was involved in a terrible accident which resulted in 62 stitches and left him in intensive care for several days. Luckily, he recovered in time to break the record for most Olympic gold medals. He also holds the record for the most medals won at the Winter X Games. As if that wasn’t enough, Shaun White was the first male athlete to hold a streak for the most gold medals won in one discipline (the snowboard slopestyle). With several remarkable sports wins, and snagging endorsements long before he was even a teenager, White is one of the most financially successful athletes today.

How much is Shaun White’s net worth?

White has been awarded several endorsements over his career, which have boosted his net worth. In 2009, he was a part of Forbes’ “highest-paid action sports stars list,” taking home an outstanding $9 million from his endorsements. Some notable ones include Burton Snowboards, Target Corporation, Red Bull and American Express, among others. He has also appeared in numerous video games and released his own, Shaun White Snowboarding, in 2008. A sequel, Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage was released the following year, while Shaun White Skateboarding was released in 2010. He also launched a lifestyle brand called Whitespace in 2022. It focuses on outerwear, streetwear, snowboard hard goods and athletic equipment. Whitespace has already partnered with Louis Vuitton for a collaborative project.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the athlete has a net worth of $65 million, which is an accumulation of his prize winnings and smart real estate decisions. While this fee might continue to increase, it is important to note that White has announced his retirement from competitions after the Beijing Olympics, but was a tour guide at the Paris Olympics 2024.

White is currently in a relationship with The Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev, and the pair have been together since 2019. While his retirement means he will not earn from competitions anymore, the successful and legendary athlete still has enough ventures to bank on to bring him more than enough money moving forward.

For American gymnast Jordan Chiles, what began as a moment of Olympic triumph quickly turned into heartbreak.

Chiles, who previously won silver in the team event at Tokyo 2020 and gold in the team event in Paris 2024, initially received a score that placed her fifth in the women’s floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. To improve Chiles’ standing, Cecile Landi, Chiles’ coach and USA Gymnastics coaching staff member, filed an appeal to have an element in Chiles’ routine reevaluated. The judges approved the appeal, resulting in a 0.1-point increase in Chiles’ score. This boost was enough to elevate her from fifth place to third, seemingly securing a bronze medal position.

As the new scores were announced, Chiles and her team celebrated what they thought was her first individual Olympic medal. However, their happiness was short-lived as two can play the contesting game.

Why did Jordan Chiles lose her first individual Olympic medal?

After the change in scores, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation swiftly contested the decision, appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). They argued that the USA’s inquiry came after the allotted one-minute deadline for appeals. The CAS investigation revealed that Landi’s appeal was indeed filed four seconds too late, at 1 minute and 4 seconds after the score was posted.

In a stunning turn of events, the CAS ruled in favor of Romania’s appeal. The decision effectively nullified the USA’s inquiry and reverted Chiles’ score to its original value. This ruling stripped Chiles of her bronze medal and rearranged the event’s final standings. Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu was reinstated as the bronze medalist, while her teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea placed fourth. Chiles, who had briefly tasted victory, was back in fifth place.

Chiles received an outpouring of from her teammates and fans. Most notably Simone Biles, her longtime friend and fellow Olympian. Biles shared a heartfelt message of encouragement on social media, reminding Chiles of her accomplishments and strength.

While it might sting to lose an Olympic medal, it’s important to that Chiles’ performance is still noteworthy despite the absence of the bronze medal. After all, a mere 0.1 point difference in her score was enough to shift her placement from fifth to third and back. With presentations scored so close to each other, there’s an argument for both Chiles and the Romanian duo to take a medal home. Unfortunately, the strict rules of the Olympic games prevent a harmonious solution like that.

Updated on August 16, 2024, at 3:16 am ET.

Chiles is well aware of all the she got from friends, fans, and colleagues and used her X to thank everyone for all the loving words she has received since the unpopular decision. According to Chiles, she is still shaken by what happened but will use this unfair turn of events as a learning lesson while continuing to compete. Spoken like a true champion!

Premiering on Sept. 17 on ABC and Disney Plus, Dancing with the Stars is about to make its highly-anticipated return this fall, and fans seriously cannot contain their excitement. Viewers have already started coming up with their dream cast list — featuring celebs like David Archuleta, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and Jason Kelce — but no official contestants have been announced just yet.

While nothing is set in stone, there certainly is some speculation on who could bring their skills to the ballroom for season 33…

A video shared by @kristynburtt via TikTok teased that a certain U.S. athlete — one who made all the headlines at the 2024 Paris Olympics — might be going for the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy to add to his collection of medals. Think you know who?

Stephen Nedoroscik might be a part of Dancing with the Stars season 33

 Yup, you read that right. Stephen Nedoroscik — aka “Pommel Horse Guy” — might be returning to our television screens sooner than you may think as a part of Dancing with the Stars this fall.

“He was scheduled to do the Gold Over America tour, but if you go now — and this is later in the afternoon, this is 2:15pm on Monday, Aug. 12th — you’ll see very clearly that his name is no longer on the cast list,” the TikTok spilled, prior to delving into the details of why this is significant.

“For those of you who have followed Dancing with the Stars for a long time, you know that when Laurie Hernandez won her gold medal in Rio and then went onto Dancing with the Stars, she still did the tour, and things have changed a little bit… When she did Dancing with the Stars, her pro Val Chmerkovskiy traveled with her during the week. He was able to rehearse with her, and then they would come back and do Dancing with the Stars. Since her season, though, Dancing with the Stars has moved to Tuesday nights, and there are five conflicting dates between the Gold Over America tour and Dancing with the Stars. That is a lot on your plate if you’re going to try and do that.”

She concluded ionately, “You can’t be two places at once — because Dancing With the Stars premieres on Sept.17, and so does the Gold Over America tour (one in Los Angeles and one down in the San Diego area) — so he probably had to pick one over the other.”

We are by no means gymnastics experts, but this sounds pretty convincing to us.

For those who might not have kept up with his journey at the Olympic Games, Nedoroscik was a part of the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics team for the United States alongside Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong, and Paul Juda, specializing in a single event: the pommel horse.

After waiting nearly two and a half hours during the team finals, Nedoroscik finally competed in his event, the pommel horse, clinching Team USA’s place on the podium with a bronze medal. This third-place finish marked Team USA’s first medal in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics since the 2008 Olympic Games, but that was not Nedoroscik’s only feat this summer. In the individual portion of this sport, Nedoroscik slayed the pommel horse and snagged a bronze medal yet again, marking Team USA’s first individual medal in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics since the 2016 Olympic Games.

Not only is he an extremely impressive athlete — bringing awareness to Men’s Artistic Gymnastics in the United States — but he also became a meme all over social media, stealing the hearts of individuals all across the globe. Earning nicknames like “The Specialist” and “Pommel Horse Guy” due to his athleticism alone, his geeky demeanor led to dozens of Clark Kent comparisons, primarily due to his tendency to take off his eyeglasses before his pommel horse performances, ultimately drawing some similarities to Kent’s transformation into Superman.

Hearing that he may be a part of Dancing with the Stars this fall was music to fans’ ears, taking to the comment section of the TikTok video to express their excitement:

“Yes, I’ll be voting for him every single week!!!”

“I would love to see him on there! He’s adorable!!”

“Seems like an obvious choice!”

“I hope soooo omg!”

While there is no way to know for sure whether or not Stephen Nedoroscik is a part of the season 33 cast until it is officially announced on Good Morning America, it is safe to say our fingers will be crossed until further notice. We NEED to see him shine on Dancing with the Stars!

Dancing with the Stars season 33 premieres on ABC and Disney Plus on Sept. 17 at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT. It will also be available to stream on Hulu.

Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, also known as B-Girl Raygun, has arguably reached Margot Robbie levels of Aussie fame over the past couple of weeks thanks to her performance in the Olympics Breaking competition in Paris becoming the single most meme-ed moment of the global summer competition.

Raygun’s viral zero-point attempt sadly was not enough to take her past the first round, but it sure blasted her name onto the podium of the internet’s most-talked-about Olympians. Among her most famous moves was a kangaroo hop inspired by her nation’s second most beloved animal (we got you, koalas), and a scissor-like motion ing her arms and legs as she rolled around on the floor.

“So you’re saying after a bottle of wine I could be an Olympian,” one person mused on TikTok. “The only time I’ve said ‘I can do that’ while watching the Olympics and was kind of correct,” another commented while attempting to recreate the infamous sequence.

The viral moment was even immortalized via a The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon sketch with Rachel Dratch impersonating the Olympian.

Safe to say, it wasn’t the most impressive display of athleticism at the 2024 Olympics, and many lamented that the B-Girl’s routine had become the most recognizable instance of a sport that was just getting its start on the world’s biggest stage. It’s been confirmed that it will not be on the roster for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The ridicule, however, reached a boiling point when Gunn was accused of scamming her way into the Olympics by a Change.org petition that claimed the breakdancer had “manipulated the selection process to her own advantage” and had benefitted from her husband Samuel Free being a judge in the 2023 Oceania Breaking Championships which resulted in her qualifying for Paris. The latter accusation appears to be categorically false according to the World Dance Sport Federation website, which doesn’t list Free among the officials for the competition.

While we understand why many Australians could feel embarrassed by Raygun’s display in Paris and cheated that she occupied a spot that could have gone to someone more qualified, the 53 medals the nation won elsewhere and Margot Robbie’s entire existence should be more than enough consolation.

American sprinter Gabby Thomas — who stole hearts while winning three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics — has revealed her one surprising weakness in running, to the surprise of a lot of fans.

Thomas stopped running, for once, and sat down for an appearance on the Today show Tuesday morning, even greeting people on the plaza who waited to see the Harvard graduate show off her gold.

During the interview, Thomas noted how happy she is to finally relax, but she also pointed out how the break won’t be long-lasting because, in six weeks, she will begin training for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The gold medalist also mentioned that she and Today show co-host Shanielle Jones bonded as they discussed running. Though Jones has emphasized that she’s not a runner, she completed the 26-mile New York Marathon last year, which so impressed Gabby that she made a startling ission.

Gabby itted that while she runs extremely fast, she cannot actually run very far.

In fact, when co-host Craig Melvin asked her if she can run the marathon like Jones did, Gabby flat out said, “No.” She then claimed that the furthest she runs is just one mile, which received a surprised response from the hosts.

She further explained, “It’s really difficult for us. It’s a different type of training — training for sprinting. It’s completely different. So, we don’t get a lot of that mileage in.”

When Thomas begins training again next month, it’s safe to say she won’t be training for the Olympic marathon. Until then, she’s not sure what to do with her time, but she emphasized, “I’m really excited to have a pizza.”

Gabby would be outrun in a marathon by Shanielle Jones, and is excited to have pizza? This might be the first time ever that a Harvard grad who is also an Olympic gold medalist is actually relatable.

Goodbye Paris, hello Los Angeles. The 2024 Summer Olympics have officially wrapped as of last weekend, and while we’re sad to see these world and internet champions retreat from the spotlight, it just means we’re that much closer to the Rayguns and Nedorosciks of tomorrow at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

But don’t expect round two of zero-point kangaroo shenanigans next year; the International Olympic Committee has already confirmed that breaking — the event that gifted us those very shenanigans — will not be returning for Los Angeles 2028.

The event, in which contestants showed off their breakdancing skills and were graded by a of judges, made its Olympic debut in Paris as an optional sport. Per Woman’s World, the IOC reportedly chose to include breaking in the 2024 Summer Olympic program as a way to appeal to younger, social media-savvy viewers, and while all the memes would suggest that they accomplished that goal, the actual, real-time engagement with the event wasn’t enough to justify breaking’s future in the Games.

But, as the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. In Los Angeles 2028’s case, the absence of breaking will be countered by the addition of baseball, flag football, lacrosse, squash, and cricket, the latter of which hasn’t appeared at the Olympics since 1900. Skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing, meanwhile, have all been upgraded from optional sports to permanent Olympic events.

So while our best chance of seeing Raygun in Los Angeles lies in the opening or closing ceremony (the 2032 Summer Olympics are being held in Brisbane, just so you know), there’s still plenty of opportunities for new heroes to arise. Who’s to say that a dark horse NOC won’t make a spectacular run in baseball on the back of a cartoonishly-colossal athlete whose only job is to hit home runs?

The final medal count of the 2024 Summer Olympics can be found here.

I’m sure you’ve seen the truly baffling breakdancing routine given by Australian national Racheal Gunn, AKA “Raygun,” at the Paris Olympics.

The Aussie “B Girl” has to be one of the most viral moments to come out of this year’s Olympics —there’s no doubt it’s up there with the Turkish shooter, Yusuf Dikec, and pommel horse guy Stephen Nedoroscik. I don’t know about you, but these guys sound like they could make one hell of a superhero team. Anyways, if you can’t , or you didn’t catch the cringe-inducing dance the first time, here’s a reminder for you.

Anyways, viewers were less than pleased with Raygun’s routine during the first and probably only breakdancing event to be held at the Olympics. Many outright ridiculed her online after the event, as her dancing certainly wasn’t up to the standards of other competitors. Although the whole thing might seem pretty humorous at first, many questioned whether this was seriously all Australia had to offer. Surely there were better dancers that could have been put forward, right? So how did Racheal Gunn get the gig?

Did Rachael Gunn scam her way into the Olympics?

Things kicked off yesterday, August 12th, when a petition was made on Change.org demanding Rachael Gunn be held able for “unethical conduct.” It goes on to claim that Gunn had set up her own governing body for breakdancing in Australia, and that her husband was a part of the selection . Essentially, Gunn is being accused of rigging the competition to get herself qualified for the Olympic games.

Some of the more damning accusations accuse her of intentionally sabotaging other dancers like the NT Youlong Boys, who were incredibly talented but underprivileged. It’s alleged that Dr. Gunn intentionally withheld crucial funding that would have allowed them to attend the qualifiers.

At the time of writing, the petition has almost 12,000 signatures.

Are the accusations true?

It’s important to emphasize that these are just accusations at this point. The governing body that sent Gunn to the Olympics is called AusBreaking, and according to an article from Sportskeeda, Gunn and her husband have no connection to the governing body. This has also been backed up by Australian chef de mission, Anna Meares, who has been defending Gunn ever since her performance. Speaking to ABC, fellow breakdancer Lucas Marie stated that Gunn won the Oceania qualifier “fair and square.”

It seems a lot of the rumors and speculation come from the fact that many are finding it hard to believe Raygun could beat out the competition when there are so many more talented dancers in the country. While that may certainly be true, that doesn’t mean we can say for certain she scammed her way into the Olympics.

In 2012, 16-year-old Gabby Douglas wowed gymnastics fans with a sweep at the London Olympics, becoming the first-ever woman of color to win the gold medal in both the team and all-around events in the same Olympic Games. Although Rio 2016 earned the young prodigy another top team accolade, the world has barely heard her name since.

After being an integral part of the iconic “Final Five” U.S. gymnastics team at the 2016 Olympics, alongside Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian, and Laurie Hernandez, Thomas stopped competing at a professional level, taking a step back from gymnastics for nearly eight years. In 2024, she announced she would be coming back to the sport that had brought her so much success in the past, generating massive buzz around the possibility that the historic 2012 champion could be making a grand return to the Olympic stage come July. Then an ankle injury days before the U.S. Championships put those plans on hold.

Why did Gabby Douglas stop competing?

The decision to go on a hiatus following the 2016 Olympics was made for the sake of Douglas’ mental health. The decorated American gymnast opened up about her time away in early 2024 after announcing her return, telling NBC she had needed to work on herself and her mental state.

That wasn’t the first time the 28-year-old had broached the topic of emotional wellbeing. In 2022, a since archived Instagram post, accessed via Women’s Health, revealed she had “carried a heavy weight on [her] back for quite some time” that had weighed her down.

To this day, people still reference the bullying Douglas was subjected to during the 2016 Rio Olympics as how not to discuss athletes during events of that magnitude. The gymnast was infamously scrutinized over her every move. People had seemingly fallen out of love with the once-revered athlete due to her keeping a serious, all-business countenance while watching her team-mates perform from the stands, and failing to put her hand over her heart while the U.S. national anthem played as the “Final Five” received their team event gold medals. She was accused of being jealous, and nicknamed “Crabby Gabby,” which then opened up the floor to all kinds of harassment, including negative comments about Douglas’ hair.

After she was done competing, Douglas talked about how “hurtful” the criticism had been, and apologized for appearing to be unive of her squad mates.

When they talk about my hair or me not putting my hand up on my heart or me being very salty in the stands, they’re really criticizing me, and it doesn’t really feel good. It was a little bit hurtful. Everything I’ve gone through has been a lot this time around and I apologize if [I seemed] really mad in the stands. I wasn’t. I was ing Aly [Raisman]. And I always will them and respect them in everything they do. I never want anyone to take it as I was jealous or I wanted attention. Never. I them, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t showing it.”

Is a Los Angeles 2028 return in the cards for Gabby Douglas?

Gabby Douglas finally announced her return to competition in February of 2024, inspired by the 2022 championships. She told NBC she had missed competing and, once back in the gym, was officially convinced she could have another go at it. Mostly, though, she didn’t want her career to end on the sour note that defined her Rio presence.

She made her comeback in April, at the American Classic in Katy, Texas, where she qualified to compete at the U.S. championships, which would have given her a chance to move on to the Olympic trials in June. Unfortunately, she was injured during training following a poor performance at the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, effectively concluding her bid to return to the Olympic stage.

Gabby fans who were over the moon about her decision to return can keep some of that flame alive, however, as the gymnast has confirmed she plans to train for the L.A. 2028 Olympics, eager to represent her country on home turf, and undeterred by the prospect of being 32 by that point. This summer, at 27, Simone Biles became the oldest female gymnast to represent the U.S. in the Olympics since the ’50s. Marie Margaret Hoesly holds the record for the oldest U.S. Olympian in women’s gymnastics, competing at the Helsinki 1952 Games at 35 years old.