This story was updated with a response from Dr Rachael Gunn and the Australian Olympic Committee on August 16th.
Late last week, one Australian Olympian took over the Internet.
It’s not uncommon for there to be a breakout star of the Games. In Tokyo in 2021, it was Aussie swimmer Emma McKeon, who took home seven medals. In Paris, the Fox family stole the hearts of the nation when they swept the canoe slalom events — Jess won two golds and her sister Noemie won a gold also. Women in general were the heroes this year, and of course, we love to see that.
But as the 2024 Paris Olympic Games came to a close, one Olympian’s name transcended the Australian algorithm and was on everyone’s lips around the world: Rachael Gunn.
Gunn was a competitor in the inaugural breaking women’s b-girls round robin event on August 10th in Paris. It’s the first time break dancing has been included as an Olympic sport and when the International Olympic Committee announced in 2020 that the sport had been added to the 2024 Olympic schedule, there were a lot of question marks.
Breaking as a dance style has a reasonably long history and originated in the Bronx, in New York City during the late 1960s and early ’70s. It incorporates moves from martial arts, gymnastics, and dance, and was popularised by African Americans and Latinos. As we moved into the ‘80s, it was also picked up on a wider scale by the likes of Michael Jackson (the moonwalk is technically a breaking move).
As it turns out, breaking landed on the world stage at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games seemingly by accident. Per The Guardian Australia, breaking was added to the schedule as a “youthful alternative” when “a decades-long campaign by the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) to get ballroom dancing into the Games kept failing because it was too ‘outdated’”.
This meant that countries, including Australia, were scrambling to organise qualifiers and federations. And thus, Gunn (whose official breaking name is ‘Raygun’) became an Olympic breaker after winning at the Oceania Breaking Championships in Sydney in 2023.
As of August 15th, objection to Gunn’s has moved from the humorous debate about “having a go” versus underperforming to a national debacle that has involved accusations of cultural appropriation, questions co-option of an art form into the Olympics and now, a Change.org petition that has collected almost 40,000 signatures that requests both Rachel Gunn and chef de mission Anna Meares accountable for unethical conduct in Olympic selection. The Australian Olympic Committee has hit back, and now Gunn herself has responded.
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn’s Response:
After almost a week, Dr. Rachael Raygunn responded to the controversy surrounding her Olympic performance in an Instagram post. In the post, she started by thanking the people who have supported her, saying, “I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives. That’s what I hoped.” She went on to say: “I didn’t realise that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.” Gunn said that while she “had fun” she “worked her butt off” in preparation. She ended her statement saying: “In regards to the allegations and misinformation floating around… please refer to the recent statement made by the AOC, as well as the posts on the Ausbreaking Instagram page, as well as the WDSF Breaking For Gold page.” Gunn ended her post by saying she would be in Europe for a few weeks “for some pre-planned downtime, but I would really like to ask the press to please stop harassing my family, friends, the Australian breaking community and the broader street dance community.”
Where Are We Now: The Change.org Petition Against Rachael Gunn and Anna Meares
A petition started by an account called “Someone who hates corruption” has accrued almost 40,000 signatures since August 12th. It calls for “immediate accountability and transparency” into Rachel (sic) Gunn and Anna Meares’ actions in Gunn’s selection process. The petition highlights the fact that “outstanding female breakdancers” were overlooked, using the example of G Clef and Holy Molly. It also accuses Rachael Gunn of withholding funding from Northern Territory breakdancing group NT Youlong Boys a group of “incredibly talented and underprivileged youth”, which impacted their ability to showcase their skills on the global stage.
As reported by The Guardian Matt Carroll, the chief executive of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) described the petition as “disgraceful”. He 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.”
The petition requests a public apology from Rachael Gunn and Anna Meares for “misleading the Australian public” and an investigation into the selection process, including an audit of Dr. Gunn’s business dealings. It also requests a global public apology to the breaking community for unethical behaviour that has “tainted the sport.”
Carroll said: “It’s important that the community understands the facts and that people do not form opinions based on malicious untruths and misinformation.”
It seems as of August 1`6th, the petition has been removed.
So, Who Is Rachael Gunn?
Dr Rachael Gunn is a lecturer in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Literature and Language at Macquarie University. According to her bio on the official Australian Olympics website, she “holds a PhD in cultural studies, with her thesis focusing on the intersection of gender and Sydney’s breaking culture”.
Gunn, who is 36 years old, has reportedly been on the Australian breaking scene since she was in her 20s and qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Oceania Breaking Championships in Sydney in 2023. She also represented Australia at the World Championships in 2021 and 2022.
Why Did Rachael Gunn’s Performance Go So Viral?
There are a few reasons Gunn’s performance went viral. The first obvious reason is the performance itself, which included moves that imitated a kangaroo and swimming on a flat surface. She also opted to wear her Australian Olympic uniform, which has been a topic of jokes as she was the only person to do so in the competition.
Gunn didn’t advance out of the round robin stage of the competition and received scores of zero from the entire judging panel. This is noteworthy as she was the only person out of 16 competitors to score straight zeroes. It’s worth noting here that Australian b-boy J-Attack also didn’t make it out of the round robin stage of the competition.
“What I wanted to do was come out here and do something new and different and creative — that’s my strength, my creativity,” Gunn was reported by ESPN saying following the competition. “I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get that in a lifetime to do that on an international stage?”
Immediately, headlines started to spring up like ‘Meet ‘Raygun,’ the 36-Year-Old Olympic Breaker Delighting the Internet’. The memes relentlessly overtook our FYP, praising Gunn for gaming the system and landing a spot at the Olympics. But for every comment or article laughing with Gunn, there were just as many calling her out for disrespecting the sanctity of the Olympics or making a mockery of an art form that is culturally significant for people in the hip-hop and breaking communities.
Wild this take is literally in the conclusion of her paper on the topic & she still took up all that space with those moves on the largest possible international platform. But please, Raygun, tell me more about your concern for historically-marginalized folks being left out.
— beckab (@beckab) August 11, 2024pic.twitter.com/4mxlqor78s
Explaining The Controversy About Raygun To Date
Once the volume of memes started to wane and the laughter died down, a few other schools of thought started to emerge. There has been plenty of critique levelled at Gunn, ranging from calling her performance a bit cringe to questioning whether it was satirical, or downright offensive.
Dr Rachael “Raygun” Gunn’s Entry Into The Olympics
Many have questioned why Australia even sent a b-girl to the Olympics, taking aim at the International Olympics Committee for allowing her to attend when her skill level was disparate to the other b-girls in the event.
“Enthusiasm, courage, backstory and even gender shouldn’t be the reason,” wrote one commenter on an Instagram post by The Guardian Australia. “The committee shouldn’t have sent anyone, knowing there wasn’t anyone available at an Olympic level. Either way if the committee was or wasn’t aware of the general standard for breaking, they completely failed her.”
This idea is something that Jason Pu, a researcher and b-boy/breaker pushes back against. “The Olympics include diverse participants from almost every part of the world, which naturally leads to situations where certain athletes are outclassed by others,” Pu wrote in an article for Forbes. “No country excels in every single sport, and in breaking’s case, Australia is simply not as competitive.”
A counterpoint to this is also that other sports do have strict minimum selection criteria, known as the Olympic qualifying standard, to be eligible to attend the Olympics.
Cultural Approprition:
Whether Gunn’s performance could be viewed as cultural appropriation has also been brought into question, particularly given its humorous nature. “All for women in sport, but not here for a middle class white woman and her white tears making breaking her entire identity — when it absolutely wasn’t made for her,” commented Australian model Succubus Mami on a video whereby Australia’s chef de mission defended Gunn.
“I love Rachael,” said Meares. “I think that what has occurred on social media, with trolls and keyboard warriors, and taking those comments and giving them airtime, has been really disappointing.
“She is the best [female breaking competitor] that we have for Australia. Now you look at the history of what we have had, what women athletes have faced in terms of criticism, belittlement, judgement and simple comments like ‘they shouldn’t be there’.”
Other competitors in the breaking event have been similarly called out for cultural appropriation, for example, Lithuania’s silver medalist Dominika ‘Nicka’ Banevič competed while wearing a durag (a protective hair covering worn by Black people).
Objection From Breakers About Being Included In The Olympic Games
Another point of contention has been not with Gunn’s performance specifically but with breakers’ desire to be included in the games at all. Many breakers have made it clear they do not consider breaking a “sport” but part of a broader culture of hip hop. In multiple interviews with The Sydney Morning Herald breakers expressed sentiments varying from ambivalence to outright anger about their inclusion. Lowe Naplan told The Herald that the only reason he became an administrator was “because no one else would do it.” He added “I never really thought of [breaking] as a sport… it will always be a culture and an artform first.”
Meanwhile, The Herald reported b-boy Serouj Aprahamian created a petition accusing the WDSF’s inclusion of breaking as: “immoral, illogical and insulting.”
Support For Rachael Gunn
Since the furore, breakdancers have said they have become targets for online harassment and ridicule. Breaker Leah Clark told Triple J Hack that since the event, her social media has been “flooded with trolls.”
She says other female dancers have been subject to similar abuse: “Some girls have been crying because they’re completely embarrassed to enter the competition.” She said she considers Gunn a friend but said her decision was “questionable.”
However, she said they are also concerned for Gunn’s wellbeing. “The competitive girls have mixed emotions. We deeply care for Rachael and we’re worried about her and the amount of bullying she’s getting. Nobody deserves that, we hope she’s okay.”
Of course, not everyone was critical. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quick to come out in support of Gunn, praising her for having “a crack”.
Following the event, Gunn also collaborated with The Inspired Unemployed in an Instagram video (captioned “The new Queen of Australia) that sees them dancing down a Parisian street. In the comments, it’s a mix of responses. Some asked whether she was mocking the Olympics and prominent personalities supported her. For example, Zoë Foster Blake wrote, “Hmm, Needs more… [kangaroo emoji]”; Steph Claire Smith commented a clapping hands emoji; and ABC News even posted the love heart hands emoji.
One thing is certain: Gunn has become a global sensation, and we don’t see this story stopping soon.
Related Posts:
- Olympics By Numbers: How Aussie Women Won Paris
- All The Hot Olympians We Fell In Love With In Paris
- The Matilda’s On The Olympics, Fame and Friendship
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
