The Australian Olympic Committee has criticized an anonymous online petition attacking controversial Paris Games breaking competitor Rachael Gunn, saying the petition was “vexatious, misleading and bullying.”
Last weekend, the sport of breaking made its Olympic debut.
One of the lasting images was the performance of an Australian b-girl known as Raygun — 36-year-old Sydney University professor Gunn — who did a “kangaroo dance” among other questionable moves during her routine and scored zero points.
Gunn was subsequently heavily criticized for her performance with parodies even being played out on a late night television show in the United States.
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Gunn took her response to all the online criticism to Instagram on Thursday.
"I really appreciate the positivity, and I'm glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives. That's what I hoped," Gunn said. "I didn't realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has, frankly, been pretty devastating."
Gunn, who has not yet returned to Australia following the Games, received strong support from Australian team chef de mission Anna Meares while still in Paris. On Thursday, the AOC went a major step further, refuting numerous erroneous stories it says have appeared online since.
Chief executive officer Matt Carroll said the AOC has written to change.org, which had published a petition criticizing Gunn and the AOC, demanding that it be immediately withdrawn.
More than 40,000 people have signed the petition claiming Gunn had “manipulated” Olympic qualification processes.
Carroll says the petition “contained numerous falsehoods designed to engender hatred against an athlete who was selected in the Australian Olympic team through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process.”
“It is disgraceful that these falsehoods concocted by an anonymous person can be published in this way," Carroll said. “It amounts to bullying and harassment and is defamatory. We are demanding that it be removed from the site immediately. No athlete who has represented their country at the Olympic Games should be treated in this way . . . "
Online criticism this past week has included suggestions that the Oceania qualifying event held in Sydney last October was set up to favor Gunn, and questioned the judging which allowed Gunn to qualify.
The AOC said Thursday the Oceania qualifying event was conducted under the Olympic qualification system determined by the international governing body, World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) and approved by International Olympic Committee.
It said the judging panel for the event was selected by the WDSF and consisted of nine independent international judges.
Unattributed social media comments also suggested Gunn and her husband, fellow breaker Samuel Free, had held positions within Australian breaking organizations.
“Rachael Gunn holds no position with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia in any capacity,” the AOC said Thursday. “She is simply an athlete who competed in the qualifying event which she won.”
Breaking at the Olympics might be a one-and-done in Paris. It is not on the competition list for the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, and also is unlikely to appear in 2032 at Brisbane, Australia.
