The 2024 Paris Olympics have come to a close, but some moments from the games will live on forever. Years from now, we’ll all likely remember how the US came together to celebrate our viral pommel horse hero who helped the men’s gymnastics team secure a bronze medal or the historic addition of breakdancing into the global competition. Unfortunately for the latter, the competition has been marred by a “meme-able” performance by Australia’s breaker Rachel “Raygun” Gunn.
“Raygun” made Olympic history when she took the stage to compete in the Games’ first-ever breaking competition. Unfortunately, the 36-year-old professor and breaker did not make the impression she was hoping for, and instead, she and her breakdancing routine became a meme. Not only that, but her interesting performance has garnered much hate from people on social media.
It’s gotten so bad that the Australian Olympic Committee even got involved, condemning fans for a petition asking for Gunn’s involvement on the team to be investigated. It seems the statement did little to stop the hate, as “Raygun” herself has now taken to Instagram to set the record straight and ask for privacy for herself and those close to her.
She kicked the video off by thanking those who have supported her and went on to say:
I really appreciate the positivity, and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives… that’s what I hoped. Um, I didn’t realize that would also open the door to so much hate. Uh, which is frankly been pretty devastating.
Competing at the Olympics should be one of the best moments of these athletes' lives; unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Even Simone Biles, the GOAT of women’s gymnastics, has had to deal with haters in the past. Now, Gunn is facing it too, and she's asking for it to stop.
Originally, much of the comments surrounding the eccentric performance revolved around Gunn’s choreography. However, that fair criticism has since turned hateful, with some online people going as far as sending death threats. Thankfully, not everyone is as vile as those people, and instead, some fans have turned their focus on questioning how and why Gunn was selected to compete and why she chose those moves to showcase against her French competitor:
- You trained for that performance? - @mrealtor
- No hate, just lots of questions - @hayley_simmons1995
- The worst moves since Elaine from Seinfeld - @mtdeansy
- What bothers me is that there was probably a young person, perhaps from a lower socio economic background who could not only dance better but whose life would have been transformed by the opportunity to compete at the Olympics. Instead of taking the opportunity herself she could have supported them to do so. - @divine_awen
Most of the commenters are referring to speculation that Gunn did not fairly earn her spot on the Olympic team and, thus, took away an opportunity from a more competitive breaker. While the claims have been disproved and debunked through stories like Vox's, critics are still wondering how the college professor found herself on the team. To those people, Gunn has the following to say:
While I went out there, I had fun; I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics. And I gave my all, truly. I’m honored to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of breakings Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved has just been phenomenal.
What should have been a joyous occasion for representing a new sport has turned sour. Though breaking had already been removed from the LA 2028 schedule back in October 2023, as noted by Fox Sports, many organizers were hopeful that solid fan reaction from the Paris Games would garner support for their return.
Though “Raygun’s” performance brought eyes to the competition, it seems to be overshadowing the sport, and that’s the real shame of all this hate.
