She may not be an Olympic champion, but Rachael Gunn definitely has her fans.
The Australian b-girl, also known as Raygun, emphasized originality as she took the breaking world stage at the sport’s Olympic debut in Paris on Friday, in a performance that included hopping like a kangaroo.
But the 36-year-old university lecturer’s unconventional performance was lost on the judges, who did not award her a single point in three battles against younger competitors from the United States, France and Lithuania.
Videos of her breaking went viral, drawing online ridicule and speculation as to whether the whole thing was a hoax. But Gunn was uncowed, re-enacting the kangaroo hop as she celebrated with fellow Australian Olympians ahead of the closing ceremony on Sunday.
“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves,” Gunn, who has a Ph.D. in cultural studies and studies breaking and hip hop culture, told reporters on Friday.
“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,” said Gunn, who qualified for the Olympics by winning last year’s Oceania Breaking Championships.
Instead of the athletic twists, spins and freezes performed by her competitors, Gunn opted instead for moves that were slower and paid tribute to her homeland. She also wore a green-and-yellow Australian Olympic tracksuit rather than the streetwear favored by her rivals.
Amid the criticism, Gunn’s performance has also drawn an outpouring of support from the international breaking community and others who lauded her originality, including the Australian prime minister.
“Good on her for having a go and wearing a trackie while you’re doing it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a radio interview Monday. “I mean, how Australian is that?”
Martin Gilian, the head judge of the Olympic breaking competition, also came to Gunn’s defense, saying she “did her best” but “her level was maybe not as high as the other competitors.”
“Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” Gilian, also known as MGibility, told reporters on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. “This is exactly what Raygun was doing. She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo.”
Gunn even got a shout-out from singer Adele, who interrupted her concert in Munich on Friday to say it was her favorite moment of the Paris Games.
Others raised concerns about abusive comments Gunn had received, with Anna Meares, Australia’s chef de mission for the Paris Olympics, calling the online criticism “really disappointing.”
“It takes great courage to walk out into any sporting environment and try,” she said.
The World DanceSport Federation, the international governing body for breaking, said it had offered her mental health support.
“She has us as a federation supporting her,” general secretary Sergey Nifontov said, according to the AP.
Participants in breaking are judged on their creativity, personality, technique, variety, musicality and vocabulary, which refers to the number and variety of the moves.
“Breaking has always been about pushing what the sport-art form is all about,” said Claire Warden, a professor of performance and physical culture at Loughborough University in Britain.
“It has also always been about self-expression,” she said. “Here was someone taking joy in their art form, and you have to love that.”
Breaking was added to this year’s Olympics in an effort to connect with a younger audience — the rapper Snoop Dogg, a special NBC Olympics correspondent, opened the competition Friday to his hit song “Drop It Like It’s Hot” — but it may never see the five rings again.
Breaking is not part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, but the sport’s federation says it is pushing for it to be included in the 2032 Games in Brisbane, Australia.
Gunn has also pushed back against the criticism herself, sharing an Instagram post from the Australian breaking team that quoted her saying, “Don’t be afraid to be different.”
“Go out there and represent yourself,” Gunn was quoted as saying. “You never know where that’s gonna take you.”
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