Australia’s most controversial Olympian is choosing to see the funny side of the intense ridicule to which she has been subjected since her infamous performance in Paris this year.
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn made headlines around the world in August for unceremoniously scoring zero points in all three of her disastrous breaking battles at the Olympics.
Since that moment, the 37-year-old has become the inspiration for more memes, skits and jokes than anyone in the world.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
She was mocked by an impersonator on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, has had a mini statue made of her infamous ‘kangaroo hop’ dance move, has become a costumes party staple, and was even mimicked in the cage at UFC 305.
That’s in addition to the endless memes that have been created on social media.
But Raygun says they’re laughing with her, not at her.
“I’ve got a digital pool room of all the best ones,” she said of the memes, speaking to Stellar magazine, which she appeared on the cover of in a dazzling new look on Sunday.
“My friends were all sending them to me and I loved it. I loved the people laughing with me because, yeah, I was doing some wacky stuff. I know that.”
The breaking lecturer and academic’s life has changed dramatically since that fateful performance in Paris.
The worst of her new life has been clear, but the best of it has been just as extreme; she was celebrated on stage by Adele during a concert, hung out with billionaire Richard Branson on his cruise ship, was pictured having lunch with British pop star Boy George, and has commercial opportunities everywhere she looks.
Raygun says it’s still hard to fathom the whirlwind that the past few months have been.
“It’s been so hard to process,” she said.
“My whole world has changed. My identity has changed. My relationships have changed, for better or for worse.
“It’s in times like these that you find out who your real friends are, unfortunately. And because things are still changing, it’s just impossible to wrap your head around.
“It’s hard to predict what it’s going to be like when I leave the house.
“It’s still a process because I’m having to prioritise my own health.
“I speak to my family when I can, but it’s hard for me to know the toll it’s taken on them because I think that will take a toll on me.”
Seeing the positivity and humour in her fame is how Raygun is choosing to live — but she admits sometimes it’s hard to block out the “shame” that people try to paint her with.
She admits there was a point where she wouldn’t even walk out her front door without someone being by her side.
“People really have tried to shame me,” she said.
“This is a process that I’m working through, trying to resist that shame.
“I’m working through mental health stuff, seeing my psychologist, doing exercise when I don’t feel like it, doing breathing exercises. (My mental health) is now something that I have to look after — it’s being exhausted.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done in trying to rebuild my image. I’ll just let people get to know me a bit more, because they just don’t.
“I feel like every time I put myself out there again, it’s a bit of a power move.
“I think the haters want me to be locked away in a room, ashamed and quiet.
“Every time I leave the house, go out for dinner, go to the shops or do a fashion shoot and pop my head back up, it’s saying, ‘No, you did not bring me down. You did not succeed. I still stand by what I did. It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to be yourself. You don’t have the power you think you do’.”