Australian Olympic team chef de mission Anna Meares has passionately leapt to the defence of breaking star Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn after her debut performance at the Paris Games.
Gunn failed to score a single point from the judges as she was eliminated from the round-robin stage, with the Australian’s routine quickly becoming the subject of social media scrutiny.
A defiant Gunn hit back at her critics on Saturday and now Meares has come to the 36-year-old’s corner, providing an insight into the barriers Gunn has broken down to emerge as Australia’s best female breakdancer.
“I haven’t spoken to Rachael yet but what I can say is that I love Rachael and I think that what has occurred on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors and taking those comments and giving them air time has been really disappointing,” Meares said.
“If you don’t know Rachael’s story in 2008, she was locked in a room crying, being involved in a male dominated sport as the only woman and it took great courage for her to continue on and fight for her opportunity to participate in a sport that she loved. And that got her to winning the Olympic qualifying event to be here in Paris.
“She is the best breakdancer female that we have for Australia.
“And you look at the history of what we’ve had as women athletes have faced in terms of criticism, belittlement, judgement and simple comments like they shouldn’t be there.
“One hundred years ago, leading into Paris in 1924, Australia sent a team of 37 athletes and none were women.
“One hundred years later, we have 256 women represented here. And Raygun is an absolutely loved member of this Olympic team.
“She has represented the Olympic team, the Olympic spirit with great enthusiasm, and I absolutely love her courage. I love her character, and I feel very disappointed for her that she has come under the attack that she has.”
It comes after Gunn, who lost all three of her pool matches, branded the decision to drop breaking from the Los Angeles 2028 program “disappointing”.
“I think that was possibly a little premature. I wonder if they’re kicking themselves now,” she said.
Gunn also responded to critics of her outfit, an Australian Olympic tracksuit, writing on Instagram: “Looking forward to the same level of scrutiny on what the bboys wear tomorrow”.
“I guess maybe being a bit older, I know how rare this opportunity is and I wanted to take the chance to wear the green and gold,” she later added, speaking to reporters.
“I don’t know why some of the other girls didn’t want to wear their kit. It was a real moment of pride for me to wear the Australian uniform, I was particularly excited for this shirt to have the Indigenous print on the arms.”
Source Agencies
