Rachael Gunn, an Australian breakdancer better known as Raygun, has broken her silence after receiving backlash for her 2024 Paris Olympics breakdancing performance.
Gunn faced a storm of hatred and misinformation after she had competed in the Olympics. This year marked the first time the Olympics featured breakdancing, or breaking, as an event. After winning the Oceania Breaking Championships, she secured a spot in the Olympics and was sent to Paris to represent Australia. However, her unconventional routine caused a stir among viewers. Gunn is relatively new to breakdancing and doesn’t dance professionally full-time, as she is also a lecturer at the Macquarie University Faculty of Arts. At the Olympics, it seems her nerves got the best of her, as she’s described struggling with feeling inadequate compared to her younger and more experienced competitors. Yet, she decided to still get on stage, have fun, and leave her mark in whatever way possible.
In her routine, she paid tribute to Australia’s national animal, the kangaroo, offering a few kangaroo hops and stances, among other unconventional moves, such as toe touches on the ground. Her routine failed to impress the judges, who gave her a score of zero, although they commended her courage in trying something new. Although Olympic fails occasionally occur and spark a few laughs before being forgotten, many viewers had an outsized reaction to Gunn’s performance, cruelly mocking her and even spreading lies that she cheated her way into the Olympics. Now, Gunn is speaking out amid the backlash.
Rachael Gunn addresses Olympics controversy
Recently, Gunn took to Instagram with a video statement on the Olympics controversy. First, she addressed the positive aspects of her performance, expressing her gratitude for how many people supported her and found her performance entertaining and creative. However, she went on to address how she never expected her performance to “open the door to so much hate” and that she found the hatred “devastating.”
One of the main reasons Gunn has received backlash is because of accusations that she didn’t take the competition seriously or put out her best performance. The dancer denied these allegations, stating, “I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics, and I gave my all. Truly.” Additionally, she addressed the lie that she cheated her way into the Olympics. A rumor arose that she and her husband had influence over the Australia Breaking Association or Australia Olympic Team and utilized it to give Gunn a spot in the competition. Although this rumor has already been debunked, and a Change.org petition was removed for spreading the defamatory lie, some have continued spreading the misinformation on social media.
In response, Gunn directed them to statements made by the Australian Olympic Committee and AUSbreaking, which cleared her of any wrongdoing and condemned the defamatory accusations against her. Gunn also explained that her score of 0 didn’t reflect how dancers are actually scored. On the Olympics website, one can see the judges score each dancer based on aspects like technique, vocabulary, originality, execution, and musicality. These scores are given in percentages. When looking at this breakdown of the scores, one can see Gunn actually did receive some points for creativity and vocabulary.
Gunn concluded her statement by stating that she was taking some time off in Europe and requesting that the press and social media stop harassing her family, friends, and the Australian breakdancing community. Sadly, her post has already been inundated with hateful comments, repeating the rumor that she cheated, demanding she apologize, and claiming that she’s playing the victim. However, her post simply provided clarity on some misinformation and defended her performance. In the end, only she knows how much effort she put into her performance and training, and if she says it was her best, it’s not as if that can be disproven by netizens.
It’s clear that Gunn made it into the Olympics for a reason and has spent time training in her sport. Just because her performance didn’t hit the mark doesn’t mean she deserves the hatred, harassment, and defamation she has been receiving.
Published: Aug 16, 2024 02:12 pm