Online hate after kangaroo routine is devastating, Australian breakdancer says

An Australian breakdancer has spoken out about the “devastating” abuse she has faced as Olympic officials defended her widely ridiculed performance in Paris.
Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, a 36-year-old university lecturer, represented Australia in the first Olympic breaking event but failed to receive a single point and was knocked out at the round-robin stage. Footage of her performance went viral on social media, including one routine where the breakdancer impersonates a kangaroo.
Gunn said her experience after leaving Paris had been “pretty devastating”, adding: “I didn’t realise that that would also open the door to so much hate.”
“While I went out there and I had fun, I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics. I gave my all — truly,” she said in a short video on Instagram. Gunn added that she was “honoured to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team”.
The performance has been lampooned by the US television host Jimmy Fallon and damned with faint praise by the singer Adele, who told a Munich crowd: “I can’t work out if it was a joke, but either way, it has made me very, very happy, and me and my friends have been shitting ourselves laughing for nearly 24 hours.”
Gunn, who obtained a PhD in cultural studies after writing a thesis on the Sydney breakdancing scene, did not return home with her fellow Australian Olympic team members this week.
Her comments follow an anonymous online petition, which alleges that the breakdancer “manipulated” the selection process and questions whether Gunn’s husband was part of the selection panel. It has gathered 45,000 signatures on Change.org.
As of Thursday, it was under review by moderators after receiving complaints from users, with the website saying the “facts from the petition may be contested”.
Matt Carroll, the chief executive of the Australian Olympic Committee, attacked the “appalling” petition as being “vexatious, misleading and bullying” and has called for it to be “immediately withdrawn”.
Carroll said in a statement: “It is disgraceful that these falsehoods concocted by an anonymous person can be published in this way. It amounts to bullying and harassment, and is defamatory.
“It’s important that the community understands the facts and that people do not form opinions based on malicious untruths and misinformation.”
He added that the petition was created to “engender hatred” against Gunn, who he says was selected “through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process”.
Gunn’s husband, Samuel Free — who is a professional breakdancer and Gunn’s coach — did not form any part of the body judging the qualifying event, the statement clarified.
Having represented Australia in 2021, 2022 and last year at the World Breaking Championships, Gunn failed to win over the Olympic judges this month and lost all three of her round-robins by a combined score of 54-0.
The Olympic breakdancers were judged on six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality. Performativity and creativity held the most weight.
Gunn previously defended her performance, saying: “All my moves are original. Creativity is really important to me. I go out there and I show my artistry.”
Others, including the Australian prime minister, have rallied behind Gunn for achieving her Olympic dream.
“Raygun had a crack, good on her, and a big shout-out to her,” Anthony Albanese said this week. “That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go.”