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Breakdancer ‘Raygun’ responds to ‘devastating’ hate she’s received since Olympic performance

August 17, 2024 | | Print Article

The one woman meme-machine whose Olympic performance set social media ablaze had something to say about detractors ripping her bunny hop breakdancing.

Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, the 36-year-old Australian Olympic breakdancer, may not have been responsible for the event getting nixed ahead of the 2028 competition, but the conversation generated by her display would certainly have led observers to believe it had.

As part of the event’s debut, and only foreseeable inclusion in the international competition, Gunn’s jackknifing, sprinkling and seeming animal imitation reminiscent at once of a kangaroo and a dinosaur had fueled the creative juices of social media users in a manner she called “devastating.”

“Hi everyone. Raygun here. I just want to start by thanking all the people who have supported me. I really appreciate the positivity and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives. That’s what I hoped,” she began a post on Instagram. “I didn’t realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.”

 

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A post shared by Rachael Gunn (@raygun_aus)

“While I went out there and had fun, I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics, and I gave my all, truly,” she went on. “I’m honored to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of Breaking’s Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved has just been phenomenal.”

Fun had at the expense of Gunn’s performance was not all that had come about following her Olympic debut as many questioned whether or not she had somehow fudged her way into qualifying for the event when juxtaposed with other Australian competitors.

“In regards to the allegations and misinformation floating around, I’d like to ask everyone to please refer to the recent statement made by the AOC as well as the posts on the AUSBreaking Instagram page as well as the WDSF Breaking for Gold page,” she noted in her post. “Bit of a fun fact for you: there are actually no points in breaking. If you want to see how the judges thought I compared to my opponents, you can actually see the comparison percentages across the five criteria on Olympics.com. All the results are there.”

After more than 40,000 signatures had been garnered by an online petition claiming Gunn had somehow “manipulated” the qualification process, ESPN reported that the Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll had written to Change.org demanding it take the petition down.

He contended it “contained numerous falsehoods designed to engender hatred against an athlete who was selected in the Australian Olympic team through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process.”

“It is disgraceful that these falsehoods concocted by an anonymous person can be published in this way,” he went on. “It amounts to bullying and harassment and is defamatory. We are demanding that it be removed from the site immediately. No athlete who has represented their country at the Olympic Games should be treated in this way.”

Further, the AOC stated, “Rachael Gunn holds no position with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia in any capacity. She is simply an athlete who competed in the qualifying event which she won.”

Gunn concluded her video indicating that she was remaining in Europe as part of a previously planned trip and that she would have more to say when she returned to Australia.

“But I’d really like to ask the press to please stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community, and the broader street dance community,” she said.

“Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this, so I ask you to please respect their privacy,” she added.

Breakdancing’s exclusion from the 2028 Olympics was decided prior to Gunn’s performance which prompted responses from the public that included parodies of all kinds.

Kevin Haggerty
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