Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn speaks out after Olympic performance in Paris: “I gave it my all”
Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, also known as B-Girl Raygun, speaks out after receiving criticism and ridicule for her viral performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in ParisShe broke her silence in an Instagram post on Thursday.
“I really appreciate the positivity and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your life,” she said. “That’s what I hoped. I didn’t know that it would open the door to so much hate, which was quite devastating, to be honest.”
“I went out there and had fun,” said the 36-year-old breaker. “I took it very seriously. I worked my ass off preparing for the Olympics and gave it my all.”
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Gunn, a Sydney professor with a PhD in cultural studies, lost all three of her round matches by a score of 54-0, drawing criticism for missing points and ridicule for some of the moves in her routine, including a “kangaroo dance.” It was even mocked on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” She responded to some of her critics.
“Fun fact for you,” she said. “There are actually no points in breaking. If you want to see how the judges found me compared to my opponents, you can see the percentage comparisons for the five criteria on Olympics.com. All the results are there.”
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She also raised questions about how she was chosen to represent Australia.
The Australian Olympic Committee defended Gunn on Thursday, condemning an anonymous petition on Change.org in which she and Australia’s Chef de Mission Anna Meares demanded an apology for their “unethical conduct” in selecting Gunn. The AOC said Gunn was selected for the Australian Olympic team through a “transparent and independent qualification and nomination process.”
“It is a disgrace that these falsehoods, fabricated by an anonymous person, can be published in this way. This amounts to bullying, harassment and is defamatory,” AOC CEO Matt Carroll said in a statement.
Since Thursday afternoon, the petition is no longer available on the website.
The committee noted that Gunn did not hold any role with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia – two organisations that oversee competitive breaking in the country.
The allegations were also made against Gunn’s husband and fellow breaker Samuel Free. The AOC said Free was not a judge at the qualifying event and had not been one.
Break made his Olympic debut in Paris and won many fans. However, the sport did not make it onto the list of sports for the Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
