RayGun has broken her silence on the controversy surrounding her appearance at the Olympics, having become a breakout viral star of the games.
The breakdancer was speaking after a petition criticising her racked up more than 50,000 signatures. It accused RayGun – real name Rachael Gunn – of “manipulating the selection process for her own advantage” as well as questioning the “fairness and integrity of the process”.
However, accusations made against RayGun and her husband online surrounding her Olympic selection process have been debunked after the petition was launched.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) heavily criticised the petition , and now RayGun has opened up about her experiences – criticising the backlash she has experienced over recent days.
"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.
"I didn't realise that would open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.
"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 honoured 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.
"In regards to the allegations and the misinformation floating around, I'd live to advise everyone to please refer to the recent statement made by the AOC as well as the posts on the AUS Breaking Instagram page, as well as the WDSF Breaking for Gold page.
"Bit of a fun fact for you, there are actually no points in Breaking. If you want to see how I compared to my opponents, you can actually see the judges' percentages across the five criteria on Olympics.com. All the results are there.
"I'm going to be in Europe for a few weeks for some pre-planned down time, but I'd really like to ask the press to please stop harrassing my family, my friends, the Australian Breaking community and the broader street dance community. Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this, so I ask you to please respect their privacy. I'll be happy to answer more questions on my return to Australia. Thanks everyone.”
The attention on Raygun has seen her mentioned by everyone from Adele to Jimmy Fallon with her family also wading in to defend her from online trolls.
Her father-in-law Andrew Free reportedly posted on social media on Saturday (10 August): "It was a pretty stacked competition and the judges were clearly looking for a certain style of breaking which is not Rachael's.
"Although they are supposed to mark five different aspects with each having the same weighting, in my obviously biased opinion they did not reward originality and musicality so she was up against it.”
He continued: "The main thing is she represented Australia and breaking at the Olympics with courage and dignity."
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