Australian Olympian Rachael Gunn has apologized to the nationwide breakdancing neighborhood after her controversial efficiency in Paris made world headlines and sparked a “backlash” from them.
Gunn, who performs Raygun, was eradicated from the B-Women competitors with zero factors, prompting customers on social media to mock and reward her unorthodox fashion.
She was interviewed for the primary time since taking part within the Olympics – in the course of a query on her {qualifications} and efficiency – Gunn was requested if she actually thought she was the very best feminine breakdancer in Australia.
“I feel my document speaks for itself,” she instructed Community 10’s The Venture.
“It is actually unhappy to listen to the criticism, and I am very sorry for the backlash the neighborhood has skilled, however I am unable to management folks’s reactions,” she continued, responding to the quantity of criticism she’s acquired on-line for her each day actions.
The 36-year-old college lecturer, who failed in all three of her Olympic appearances, impressed a flood of memes along with her inexperienced tracksuit and wacky antics, which included a splash and a kangaroo bounce.
After the present, Gunn confronted accusations of rigging the choice course of, together with accusations that she arrange her personal administration company and that her husband judged her eligibility trials.
A number of organizations have since condemned the claims as false, together with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF).
“Conspiracy theories are horrible,” Gunn instructed Community 10.
“I am the highest-ranked Australian B-girl in 2020, 2022 and 2023. What number of world championships have I been requested to characterize…so, the document is there. However in a combat something can occur,” she stated added.
Gunn, who has a background as a jazz, faucet and ballroom dancer, has publicly defended the “inventive and inventive” nature of her dance performances.
“I am by no means going to beat these women on the issues they do greatest, like dynamic and energy strikes, so I wish to do totally different strikes,” she stated final month.
The highest judges who oversee the B-Women competitors additionally Go away your individual energy behind Gunnin addition to crew officers and the broader Olympic breakdancing neighborhood.
However the aftermath has divided and upset these concerned within the sport in Australia.
Australian hip-hop pioneer Spice beforehand instructed the BBC: “It makes a mockery of the Australian music trade and I feel that is why plenty of us are hurting.”
Breakdancing, a hip-hop-inspired dance born in New York Metropolis within the Nineteen Seventies, was launched into this 12 months’s Olympic schedule in a bid to draw youthful audiences to the video games.
However some critics say it should not be included in any respect as a result of natural nature of the style, which does not essentially lend itself to organized competitors.
In a video posted to her Instagram after the present in Paris, Gunn straight referred to as on the media to cease “harassing” her household and associates.
In an interview with Community 10, she described the expertise of being hounded by reporters following the incident as “actually loopy”.
“It undoubtedly despatched me right into a panic…dancing was my drugs, after which it turned my stressor,” she stated.
Gunn admitted she was “not there but” to look at her efficiency, however she was moved by the help she acquired from Olympians and a few members of the general public on the closing ceremony.
“It warms my coronary heart,” she stated. “I favor to concentrate on the constructive aspect of this and the enjoyment I deliver to folks.”
