Australia’s infamous Olympic breakdancer has broken her silence after her performance at the Games went viral.
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn’s act in Paris attracted global attention when her dance moves and uniform were widely criticised.
The Macquarie University academic, who researches cultural politics of breaking, said in her first interview she had needed mental health support.
“There’s been a portion of very angry and, you know, awful responses, not only attacking me but attacking my husband, attacking my crew, attacking the breaking and street dance community in Australia, my family,” she told The Project.
“The energy and vitriol that people had was pretty alarming.”
Gunn also inspired a sketch from US comedian Jimmy Fallon but said she was not “in a place yet to watch it”.
The 36-year-old responded to disapproval from within the breaking community she set back progression of the sport.
“It is really sad to hear those criticisms,” she said.
“And I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can’t control how people react.”
Some of the criticised moves in Gunn’s routine included the snake, kangaroo and sprinkler which were performed in an Australian team polo and high-waisted tracksuit pants.
More than 40,000 people signed an anonymous Change.org petition claiming Gunn had “manipulated” Olympic qualification processes.
The petition claimed Gunn set up her own governing body for breakdancing to qualify for the Games, misused funding and demanded an apology from her and Paris chef de mission Anna Meares.
Gunn and Australian Olympic Committee chief Matt Carroll blasted the petition and demanded it be taken down.
Online users claimed Gunn’s husband Samuel Free was a judge at the Olympic qualifying event and is a national team selector.
The AOC clarified in a statement the qualifying event in Sydney in October 2023 was conducted by the sport’s international governing body World DanceSport Federation, as approved by the International Olympic Committee.
The judging panel was selected by the federation and consisted of nine independent international judges, the AOC said.
In the interview, Gunn said she qualified to the Olympics by winning the Oceania qualifier, where she didn’t know the judges.
“I was super nervous about it, to be honest, because even though I’d won all these competitions in Australia I was nervous about winning this one because it was all new judges,” she said.
Gunn was “legitimately nominated” by DanceSport Australia to the committee after winning the qualifying event and had no responsibility for any funding decisions in the sport, the AOC said.
The AOC also made it clear Meares was not involved in the qualifying event or nomination of athletes and the sport did not receive federal government funding.
DanceSport Australia did receive funding from the AOC for breaking.
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