Petition questioning Australian breaker’s qualification is taken down. Here is how Raygun got to the Olympics

It’s been a week since breakdancing made its Olympic debut in Paris. Dozens of breakers impressed audiences with their performances. But there’s one breakdancer the world can’t stop talking about: Rachael “Raygun” Gunn.

The Australian dancer performed in the first round of B-girl breaking. She was one of 50 women competing. Gunn went against French breaker Sya “Syssy” Dembele. The final score was Raygun (0), Syssy (18).

Her time on the Olympic stage was brief — less than 10 minutes — but her moment in the limelight hasn’t died down. Why is everyone talking about Raygun?

Gunn holds a a Ph.D. in cultural studies and a B.A. in contemporary music, both from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She currently teaches at Macquarie in the department of media, communications, creative arts, literature and language, per Gunn’s LinkedIn profile .

She has represented Australia in breakdancing several times prior to the Olympics and was named the top B-girl by the Australian Breaking Association in 2020 and 2021.

But her performance in Australia — which essentially scored a zero — called Gunn’s qualifications into question. Gunn has now been the subject of an online petition and tens of thousands of TikTok videos .

On Thursday, Gunn responded to her viral attention in an Instagram video , claiming she did not realize she would receive so much “hate,” which she called “devastating.”

From her viral attention to the petition criticizing Raygun, how she qualified for the Olympics and Gunn’s response going viral, here’s everything we know about Raygun.

Petition criticizing Raygun taken down

After Gunn’s Olympic performance, an online petition called into question her qualification for the Games.

The petition alleged that Gunn “manipulated” the Olympic selection process and suggested that her husband, Samuel Free, was on the selection panel for the Australian Olympic team, per The Guardian . By Thursday, the petition had garnered more than 45,000 signatures.

Change.org, where the petition was published, took the petition down, noting it was “flagged for misinformation.”

“ Change.org maintains strict guidelines against content that constitutes harassment, bullying, or spreading false information,” Change.org said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times . “We take such matters seriously and remove any content that violates these standards to protect our users and uphold the integrity of our community.”

Australian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Matt Carroll called the petition “vexatious, misleading and bullying,” per Reuters .

Carroll said 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,” per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation .

The Australian team chef de mission Anna Meares called Gunn “the best breakdancer female that we have for Australia,” per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation .

“She has represented the Olympic team, the Olympic spirit, with great enthusiasm,” Meares said. “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.”

How Raygun was selected for the Australian Olympic team

Gunn was selected for Australia’s breaking team in a two-day selection process held in April, Ausbreaking said in an Instagram statement regarding its Olympic qualification process.

The selection event, held in October 2023, brought the top breakers in Australia. A head judge, nine international adjudicators and a chairperson oversaw the competition and selection process.

“Ultimately, Rachael Gunn and Jeff Dunne emerged as the top performers in exactly the same process, securing their spots to represent Australia in Paris. Their selection was based solely on their performance in their battles on that day,” said the Ausbreaking statement .

“We condemn the global online harassment and bullying of Raygun. The pressure to perform on the Olympic stage is immense, especially against the opponents in her particular group,” the statement continued.

“We stand in solidarity with Raygun.”

Raygun memes took over TikTok

More than 67,000 posts with the tag #raygun have been put on TikTok since the breaker performed at the Olympics a week ago.

Most of them are memes that look something like this:

Some of the clips share more information about Raygun, a few praise the dancer, but most make her the butt of a joke.

Even “The Tonight Show” poked fun at the Olympic breakdancer. Dressed up in a Raygun costume, “SNL” comedian Rachel Dratch interrupted host Jimmy Fallon’s monologue and began imitating Raygun’s performance is Paris.

Raygun responds to viral attention

In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, Gunn said she “didn’t realize” her performance in Paris would “open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.”

“Hi everyone, Raygun here. I just want to start by thanking all the people who have supported me, I really appreciate the positivity and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives, that’s what I hoped,” she said in the video .

“Well, I went out there and 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 breaking’s Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved has just been phenomenal.”

Gunn previously responded to her critics during a press conference on Saturday.

“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, 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,” she said, per ESPN .

She noted that her strength in the sport is “creativity.”

“I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way.”

Breaking won’t be in LA 2028 Olympics

Following its Olympic debut in Paris, breakdancing will not be on the program at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, as previously reported by the Deseret News .

The decision to keep breakdancing out of the LA Games was made long before Raygun or any other Olympic breakdancers performed on the worldwide stage.

The Los Angeles Olympic organizers chose not to include the sport in 2023 because it did not fit their vision for the Games. It had nothing to do with any of the breakdancers’ performances.

“It’s up to each local organizing committee to determine which [additional] sports to put forward that fit with their vision of the Games,” IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell said last year during a press briefing of why the Los Angeles Olympic organizers chose not to include the sport, per The Washington Post . “Obviously breaking fit very clearly with Paris’s vision of a very youth-focused urban engagement.”