Australian breakdancer Raygun responds to criticism and says the hate she's getting is 'devastating'

• Rachael Gunn, who competes under the name "Raygun," was a breaker at the Paris Olympics.
• Memes about her, as well as misinformation and harassment, proliferated after the competition.
• Gunn spoke out about the harassment in an Instagram video.

Australian breaker Rachael Gunn — better known as "Raygun" — addressed the controversy and misinformation that has followed her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Gunn represented Team Australia in breaking's debut at the 2024 Olympics. She sustained three losses in the round-robin portion of the competition to breakers from the United States, France, and Lithuania and did not advance. Her day job is as an academic, where she studies breaking and draws from her personal experience.

Memes proliferated online in the wake of Gunn's performance. But soon after, a swarm of misinformation followed, as some claimed Gunn had unfairly obtained her spot at the Olympics.

Gunn addressed the allegations and backlash to her performance at the Olympics in an Instagram video posted Thursday. In it, she thanked those who had supported her and said she hoped to "bring some joy" to those who watched her.

"I didn't realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating," she said.

"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," Gunn said. "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."

A Change.org petition titled "Hold Raygun Rachel Gunn & Anna Mears Accountable for Unethical Conduct Olympic Selection" addressed both Gunn and Team Australia leader Anna Meares. It contained claims that Gunn "set up her own governing body for breakdancing" and "manipulated the selection process," and suggested that Samuel Free, her husband and coach, had judged her qualifying event.

In reality, these assertions were false. There were three ways to qualify for the breaking competition in Paris: at the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) championships in September 2023, a continental qualifying event, or an Olympic qualifier series event held in 2024. Gunn qualified by winning the 2023 WDSF Breaking Oceania Championship in October 2023. Samuel Free, Raygun's husband and coach, was not one of the judges at the event.

An archived snapshot of the Change.org petition shows that it received over 56,000 signatures before it was removed from the website.

A representative for Change.org confirmed to Business Insider on Thursday that the petition had been flagged for misinformation, reviewed per the platform's community guidelines, and removed from the platform.

"Change.org maintains strict guidelines against content that constitutes harassment, bullying, or spreading false information. We take such matters seriously and remove any content that violates these standards to protect our users and uphold the integrity of our community," the rep said in an email statement to BI.

Gunn and Australian organizations have denounced misinformation about Gunn's qualification

With reference to the "allegations and misinformation" about her participation at the Olympics, Gunn referred viewers to statements made by AUSBreaking, the regional organization that facilitated her qualifying event, the WDSF, and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

In a statement released Thursday, AOC CEO Matt Carroll said that the organization had asked Change.org to remove the petition.

"The petition has stirred up public hatred without any factual basis. It's appalling," Carroll said in the statement. "No athlete who has represented their country at the Olympic Games should be treated in this way and we are supporting Dr. Gunn and Anna Meares at this time."

AUSBreaking has released multiple statements denying that Gunn held any leadership positions in the organization and that Free was a judge at her qualifying event. It also outlined the qualifying process and condemned Gunn's harassment.

Gunn said in the video that she would remain in Europe for several weeks for "preplanned downtime" after the Olympics.

"I'd really like to ask the press to please stop harassing my family. my friends, the Australian breaking community, and the broader street dance community," she said.

This story was originally published on August 15, 2024, and has been updated to include Change.org's statement.