Australian Olympic Committee defends controversial breaker Rachael Gunn
FILE-Australia’s Rachael Gunn, known as Raygun, competes during the Breaking B-Girls Round Robin Group B battle between Logistx and Raygun on Day 14 of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at La Concorde on August 9, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Harry La
The Australian Olympic Committee is condemning an anonymous online petition attacking controversial Olympics breaking competitor Rachael Gunn.
Gunn, an Australian breakdancer known as Raygun, competed in the Paris Games last weekend performing a "kangaroo dance" during her routine in the breaking competition, and scored zero points.
Breaking made its debut at the Olympics this year and Gunn received criticism for her performance as spoofs of her routine made the rounds on late night television shows in the U.S. The 36-year-old has not returned to Australia since the 2024 Olympics ended.
RELATED: Australian b-girl's father-in-law takes swipe at judges over Olympic breaking score
Chief executive officer Matt Carroll tells the Associated Press that the Australian Olympic Committee wrote to change.org, which published a petition condemning Gunn and the AOC, calling for it to be removed. Over 40,000 people have signed the petition claiming Gunn "manipulated" Olympic qualification processes.
Criticism of Gunn online implied that a qualifying event in Sydney, Australia last year was set up to favor Gunn. However, AOC officials said Thursday that the 2023 qualifying event was held under the Olympic qualification system.
The AP noted that breaking is not on the competition list for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and likely will not appear in 2032 at Brisbane, Australia.
The Source
Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.