All of a sudden Rachael Gunn has Olympic dreams

Talk to most Olympic hopefuls and they will tell you they have dreamed of making it to a Games since before they can remember.

Not breakdancer Rachael Gunn.

Gunn, or ‘Raygun’ as she is known in breaking circles, could not be further removed from your typical Olympic athlete.

For starters, she is a doctor – holding a PhD in Cultural Studies.

Throw in she’s a 35-year-old breakdancer, and you start to get the picture.

“Not the normal path,” Gunn said of what she hopes will culminate in representing Australia in Paris this time next year.

Gunn was among a handful of athletes who came together on Wednesday as the Australian Olympic Committee marked one year to go until the Paris Olympics.

She wasn’t just there as a budding Olympic hopeful, but also part of the entertainment as Gunn and three other members of her ‘crew’ gave an impressive insight into the world of breaking.

The sport will make its Olympic debut in Paris – part of a new wave of recently admitted sports aimed at courting the youth market.

That irony wasn’t lost on the not-so-youthful Gunn, nor the fact she was seated alongside 13-year-old skateboarder Chloe Covell at Wednesday’s event.

But while Covell spoke of dreaming of being an Olympian since the age of six, participating at a Games was never on Gunn’s radar.

“I’d never thought about it (until it was announced),” she said.

“It’s not just a sport, it’s a culture, it’s a community.

“None of us got into these activities to become an Olympian, this is just an amazing opportunity that we’ve been given.”

There are still a few hurdles to overcome before Gunn can dream of getting to Paris.

Doubts still surround the qualification path with a lack of funds leaving a proposed Oceania Championships up in the air.

Having set a budget of $200,000 to host the championships in Sydney in October, Australian Breaking Association President Lowe Napalan said his organisation still needed another $80,000 to ensure it goes ahead.