Australian Olympian Rachael Gunn has apologised to the nation’s breakdancing neighborhood for the “backlash” they’ve skilled following her controversial routine in Paris, which made headlines globally.
Gunn, who competes as Raygun, was eradicated from the B-Ladies competitors with a rating of zero, prompting ridicule and reward for her unorthodox type by customers throughout social media.
In her first sit-down interview since collaborating within the Video games – and amid questions over her qualification and performance – Gunn was requested if she genuinely thought she was Australia’s finest feminine breakdancer.
“I believe my file speaks to that,” she advised Community 10’s The Venture.
“It’s actually unhappy to listen to these criticisms and I’m very sorry for the backlash that the neighborhood has skilled, however I can’t management how individuals react,” she continued, addressing the flood of critiques her routine has garnered on-line.
The 36-year-old college lecturer misplaced all three of her Olympic battles, along with her inexperienced tracksuit and eccentric efficiency – which included the sprinkler transfer and kangaroo-inspired hopping – producing a sea of memes.
Within the aftermath of her efficiency, Gunn confronted accusations that she had manipulated the choice course of, together with allegations that she had arrange her personal governing physique and that her husband had judged her qualification trial.
These claims have since been denounced as false by a number of organisations, together with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF).
“The conspiracy theories have been simply terrible,” Gunn advised Community 10.
“I used to be the top-ranked Australian B-girl in 2020 and 2022 and 2023. I’ve been invited to symbolize at what number of World Championships… So, the file is there. However something can occur in a battle,” she added.
Gunn, who has a background as a jazz, faucet and ballroom dancer, had publicly defended her routine as “creative and inventive”.
“I used to be by no means going to beat these ladies on what they do finest, the dynamic and the facility strikes, so I wished to maneuver otherwise,” she mentioned final month.
The highest decide who oversaw the B-Ladies competitors has additionally thrown his weight behind Gunn, as have group officers and the broader Olympic breakdancing neighborhood.
However the fallout has divided and disenchanted these concerned within the sport in Australia.
“It made a mockery of the Australian scene and I believe that is why quite a lot of us are hurting,” Australian hip-hop pioneer Spice beforehand advised the BBC.
A hip-hop impressed dance born within the boroughs of New York within the Nineteen Seventies, breaking was launched into this yr’s Olympic schedule to draw a youthful viewers to the Video games.
However some critics say it ought to by no means have been included, because of the natural nature of the style, which does not essentially swimsuit organised competitors.
After her efficiency in Paris, Gunn appealed to the media immediately in a video posted on her Instagram to cease “harassing” her household and buddies.
In her interview with Community 10, she described being chased by reporters within the aftermath of the fallout as “actually wild”.
“That actually did put me in a state of panic… Dancing was my drugs, after which it changed into my supply of stress,” she mentioned.
Gunn admitted that she is “not in a spot but” to look at her efficiency again, however was touched by the assist she has acquired from her fellow Olympians on the Closing Ceremony in addition to from a few of the basic public.
“It so warmed my coronary heart,” she mentioned. “I’d moderately a lot deal with the positives out of this and the enjoyment that I’ve introduced individuals.”
