Australian Olympian Rachael “Raygun” Gunn has apologized to the breaking community for the backlash caused by her controversial performance at the Paris Games, but insisted that her “record speaks” to her being her country’s best B-girl.
The 37-year-old courted controversy after she was knocked out of the round-robin stage of the event after a routine that included hopping like a kangaroo and flailing on the floor.
Her performance quickly went viral as social media memes and skits re-creating her dance exploded on the internet. The move dubbed the “kangaroo” which saw Gunn hold her arms close to her body and kick one leg in the air as she leant back was particularly popular.
Gunn said it was “really sad to hear those criticisms,” in her first interview since she her performance made international headlines with “The Project,” a TV show on Australia’s Network 10. The full interview will air Wednesday but an excerpt of the prerecorded interview was released in advance.
“I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can’t control how people react,” she said.
Asked whether she genuinely believed she is the best female breaker in Australia, she replied: “I think my record speaks to that.”
Gunn, who lectures in cultural studies at Sydney’s Macquarie University, said it was “really wild” to be chased by the media after her Olympic display.
“That really did put me in a state of panic,” she said.
Team Australia’s Rachael Gunn isn’t just one of the world’s top breakers. She’s also a breakout star of the 2024 Paris Games after her Olympic debut.
While it is her first sit-down interview since Paris, Gunn has previously talked about her surprise about the backlash to her performance. In an Instagram video post shortly after the games, she said she didn’t realize that would also “open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.”
She added that while she “had fun” in Paris, “I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave my all, truly.”
In both the excerpt of the interview and the Instagram post, Gunn did not directly address a Change.org petition that accused her of “manipulating the selection process to her own advantage,” which appeared shortly after her performance and garnered thousands of signatures.
The petition did not provide any evidence to back up its claim and shortly after it appeared last month, the Australian Olympic Committee called it “vexatious, misleading and bullying.”
AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll said in a statement that Gunn was selected for the team “through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process.”
Breaking has been dropped from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and it is yet to be decided whether the event will make a comeback for the Games in 2032.
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