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Australian PM Anthony Albanese has thrown his support behind Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn after she became the target of online trolls following the breakdancing competition in the Paris Olympics. Breakdancing debuted in the Paris Olympics, and Gunn was the only Australian participant in the competition.
Gunn during a press conference said, “The Olympics is about people participating in sport – that’s a good thing. And Raygun had a crack, good on her, and a big shout-out to her. That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go. She’s had a go representing our country and that’s a good thing.
He added, “One of the things that I hope happens as a result of our magnificent performance of these athletes, the best performance in any Olympics ever, is that these young people watching … they’re watching like other young people and thinking, “You know what? Brisbane 2032 – I could have a go there”.
Rachel Gunn’s performance at Paris Olympics
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Gunn was eliminated from the B-Girls competition after scoring zero points. However, the 36-year-old university lecturer from Sydney became a victim of memes and video spoofs while raising questions about her outfit and qualification for the event.
How did Rachel Gunn Qualify for Paris Olympics?
Fellow breaker and anthropologist Lucas Marie said that Gunn won her qualification "fair and square" last year. Speaking to ABC news she said, "There was an Oceania qualifier in which any B-boy or B-girl from Australia [or] New Zealand could enter, and that was in Sydney in October 2023. And leading up to that, there were a lot of other events in which breakers were competing.
“She won those battles fair and square and won the qualification in Sydney. And it wasn't really a surprise to anyone. She's been fairly consistent, winning or coming second or third at a lot of breaking events in Australia for the last five to 10 years."
