Rachael Gunn, otherwise known as Raygun has gone viral for her performance in the newly added sport of breakdancing at the Olympics.
The Australian's moves have been seen across the world and with most people laughing at her, there has been speculation online regarding Raygun's qualifications for competing at the Paris Games. The rumors stemmed from a Reddit post that stated the 36-year-old cheated to get her spot on the Olympic breaking team.
That is to say, reports have come out that Raygun and her husband Samuel Free were the founders of the Australian Breaking Association, and it is alleged that she seemingly "elected herself" to represent Australia for this event.
Now that you’re familiar with Raygun, meet her husband and trainer Sammie Free 👀 pic.twitter.com/YhmYNvBkXR
— Kicks (@kicks) August 15, 2024
With this in mind, Raygun scored a 0 for Australia during the debut of the Olympic breaking competition. Notably, Japan's AMI won the gold-medal battle over Lithuania's Nicka (silver medal), while China's 671 took home the bronze.
The story of how the Australian women’s breakdancer, Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, who scored a literal 0 in the Olympics is fascinating. How did she get there?
TLDR: The Olympics outsourced the breakdancing qualifications to a third party called the WorldDance Sport Federation who… pic.twitter.com/3cjIbgNGkG
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) August 12, 2024
To note, as reported by People.com, an anonymous online user also started a petition on Aug. 11, which entails calling for Raygun to be held accountable for "unethical conduct," because "Gunn set up her own governing body for breakdancing [and] manipulated the selection process to her own advantage."
The petition also includes a request to start an investigation pertaining to the Olympic selection process; to point out, so far it already has 32,000 signatures (as of August 14).
In regards to Raygun's qualifications, fellow Australian breakdancer Leah Clark, who is also a friend, admitted she was a bit disappointed observing her Olympic performance. Nevertheless, she also noted that Raygun deserved to be there, per the New York Post.
"There is a huge amount of talent in Australia. But Rachael deserved to be there because she won the championships."
Considering this, some may be curious to see who the judges were for these competitions.
In view of the negative backlash and hate received, Clark noted that Raygun can't even go on her social media pages because so many trolls are on there making fun of her.
Australian breakdancer Raygun breaks her silence after being mocked online over her bizarre Olympics performance.
The dancer called the criticism “Devastating” and asked people to stop “harrasing” her.
“I didn’t realize that would also open the door to so much hate which has… pic.twitter.com/D2iZD5cgF6
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 15, 2024
Apparently the breakdancing community has been affected as a whole in Australia, as they feel disrespected and mocked over the public reaction.
"The competitive girls have mixed emotions," Clark stated. "We deeply care for Rachael and we're worried about her and the amount of bullying she's getting. Nobody deserves that. We hope she's ok."
Even so, all in all, much like everyone else, Raygun's counterparts also couldn't believe their eyes of what they witnessed while watching the Olympics.
"On the other side, we're kind of like 'what happened there?'"
This will never not be funny. 🤣 #Raygun pic.twitter.com/6hOKMyOue9
— Nara Hodge (@Nara_Hodge) August 12, 2024
Related: Olympics Break Dancer Speaks Out After Social Media Backlash
