- The Australian went viral after failing to score points in the competition
- A 36-year-old woman’s routine is described as ridiculous and embarrassing
- The country’s head of mission lashed out at her critics
Australia’s Olympic chief has slammed critics of breakdancer Rachael Gunn, calling them a typical example of the misogynistic abuse faced by female athletes.
Chef de mission Anna Meares says Gunn should be applauded for her bravery, rather than ridiculed for her performance at the Paris Games.
Gunn, known as Raygun, failed to score any points when breaking made its Olympic debut in Paris on Friday.
Since then, Gunn has come under fire not only for his acting but also for his appearance, both online and in some traditional media.
He hopped like a kangaroo, sometimes looked like a T-Rex, and rolled around on the ground in a disjointed manner that both confused and amused Australians returning home to see the sport for the first time.
Gunn hit back at his critics, criticising the IOC for ruling out the sport for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I love Rachael,” Meares told reporters Saturday.
‘What’s happened on social media with the trolls and the keyboard warriors, and taking those comments and giving them air time, has been really disappointing.
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn’s groundbreaking routines in Paris sent her into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after she failed to score a single point when the sport made its Olympic debut.
The Australian’s efforts made her the butt of joke after joke on the Internet, but she hit back at her critics and slammed the International Olympic Committee for abandoning the sport.
Australia’s chef de mission in Paris, Anna Meares (pictured), said the criticism of Raygun was the same kind of misogynistic abuse that has been directed at generations of female athletes.
‘Raygun is an absolutely beloved member of this Olympic team.
‘She has represented the Olympic team, the Olympic spirit, with great enthusiasm.
“I love her bravery. I love her character and I feel very disappointed for her, for having been the target of the attacks that she has suffered.”
Gunn, a 36-year-old Australian university professor, lost all three of her round-robin battles by a combined score of 54-0.
She works for Macquarie University in Sydney as a creative arts researcher, specialising in “the cultural politics of breakdancing” and also holds a PhD in the sport.
“In 2008, she was locked in a room crying, participating in a male-dominated sport as the only woman,” Meares said.
‘And it took a lot of courage for her to keep going and fight for her chance to participate in a sport she loved.
‘That led her to win the Olympic qualifying event to be here in Paris.
“She’s the best breakdancer we have in Australia.”
Raygun left many viewers in hysterics or scratching their heads with a routine that saw her hop like a kangaroo and even resemble a T-Rex at times.
In a scathing social media post, Gunn lashed out at people who criticised her Olympic uniform, after some trolls suggested she looked like a tennis line umpire.
Meares compared the criticism to the historical misogynistic abuse directed at female athletes as they struggled for recognition in the sporting world.
“Now you look at the history of what we’ve had as female athletes, what we’ve faced in terms of criticism, belittlement, judgment and simple comments like ‘you shouldn’t be there,'” she said.
‘One hundred years ago, ahead of Paris 1924, Australia sent a team of 37 athletes (none of them women).
‘One hundred years later, we have 256 women representing here.’
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Australian Jeff ‘J-Attack’ Dunne also failed to make it past the round-robin stage in the men’s event on Saturday.
Dunne suffered three consecutive losses, although he did at least get a point in both his second and third fights.
