I’m sure you’ve seen the truly baffling breakdancing routine given by Australian national Racheal Gunn, AKA “Raygun,” at the Paris Olympics.
The Aussie “B Girl” has to be one of the most viral moments to come out of this year’s Olympics —there’s no doubt it’s up there with the Turkish shooter, Yusuf Dikec, and pommel horse guy Stephen Nedoroscik. I don’t know about you, but these guys sound like they could make one hell of a superhero team. Anyways, if you can’t remember, or you didn’t catch the cringe-inducing dance the first time, here’s a reminder for you.
Anyways, viewers were less than pleased with Raygun’s routine during the first and probably only breakdancing event to be held at the Olympics. Many outright ridiculed her online after the event, as her dancing certainly wasn’t up to the standards of other competitors. Although the whole thing might seem pretty humorous at first, many questioned whether this was seriously all Australia had to offer. Surely there were better dancers that could have been put forward, right? So how did Racheal Gunn get the gig?
Did Rachael Gunn scam her way into the Olympics?
Things kicked off yesterday, August 12th, when a petition was made on Change.org demanding Rachael Gunn be held accountable for “unethical conduct.” It goes on to claim that Gunn had set up her own governing body for breakdancing in Australia, and that her husband was a part of the selection panel. Essentially, Gunn is being accused of rigging the competition to get herself qualified for the Olympic games.
Some of the more damning accusations accuse her of intentionally sabotaging other dancers like the NT Youlong Boys, who were incredibly talented but underprivileged. It’s alleged that Dr. Gunn intentionally withheld crucial funding that would have allowed them to attend the qualifiers.
At the time of writing, the petition has almost 12,000 signatures.
Are the accusations true?
It’s important to emphasize that these are just accusations at this point. The governing body that sent Gunn to the Olympics is called AusBreaking, and according to an article from Sportskeeda, Gunn and her husband have no connection to the governing body. This has also been backed up by Australian chef de mission, Anna Meares, who has been defending Gunn ever since her performance. Speaking to ABC, fellow breakdancer Lucas Marie stated that Gunn won the Oceania qualifier “fair and square.”
It seems a lot of the rumors and speculation come from the fact that many are finding it hard to believe Raygun could beat out the competition when there are so many more talented dancers in the country. While that may certainly be true, that doesn’t mean we can say for certain she scammed her way into the Olympics.