Breakdancer Raygun Earned Her Spot in the Olympics Fairly

As the controversy continues to swirl around Olympic breakdancer Raygun, whose unorthodox moves went viral this week, so do questions about how she was even allowed to compete in the first place.

Raygun, also known as Dr. Rachael Gunn, is a 36-year-old lecturer in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She studies and teaches breaking and street dancing.

The drama surrounding Raygun all started after her breakdancing performance at the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Aug. 10. Raygun suffered three straight losses in the round-robin portion of the breaking competition, and she wasn’t awarded anything from the judges when facing off against competitors from the U.S., France, and Lithuania.

Raygun performed a series of bizarre moves, including a kangaroo hop, spending most of her routine lying down or spinning around. The performance was met with both uproarious mockery and seething hatred on the internet. Social media buzzed with memes and tweets mocking her, including comparisons to the effects of drugs.

Matters worsened when a viral petition began circulating online on Aug. 11, accusing her of “unethical conduct.” The Change.org petition, now taken down, accumulated over 29,000 signatures in the few days it was active. Created by a user named “Someone Who hates corruption,” the petition accused Raygun and Australian Olympic Committee president Anna Meares of rigging the selection process and overlooking other talented Australian breakdancers.

However, some allegations against Raygun have since been debunked by The Sydney Morning Herald. The petition falsely claimed that Raygun and her husband, Samuel Free (also her coach and b-boy Sammy The Free), rigged the selection process and were founders of AUSBreaking, which is untrue. AUSBreaking clarified that neither Raygun nor Free were involved in leadership or decision-making within the organization.

The question remains: how exactly did Raygun qualify for the Olympics?

After Paris announced in 2022 that they would partner with the World DanceSport Federation to bring breaking to the 2024 Olympics, they established 32 spots—16 b-girls and 16 b-boys. There were three ways to earn a slot.

The first qualification opportunity came at the WDSF World Championships in Belgium in September of 2023, where one man and one woman could qualify. Another “continental qualifying event” offered two spots for a man and a woman breaker. The remaining 20 spots were decided at Olympic qualifier series events in Budapest and Shanghai in May and June of 2024.

Raygun qualified at Australia’s regional qualifying event, the 2023 WDSF Breaking Oceania Championship in Sydney, held last October. AUSBreaking organized the event, and the judging panel was comprised entirely of international breakers, including Katsu One of Japan. Raygun’s husband was not one of the judges.

AUSBreaking has had a national ranking system since 2020, with public records showing Raygun ranked first during the inaugural ranking and 2021 ranking. She then placed second in both the 2022 and 2023 rankings.

Raygun competed in the WDSF Oceania Breaking Championship in October of that year. Local outlets reported she was the top-scoring b-girl on the first day of the competition and made it to the top eight. After the second day, Raygun earned the qualifying spot.

AUSBreaking released multiple statements regarding the controversy, including that Raygun was judged at the Oceania championships with the same system as the 2024 Olympics. They also condemned any harassment against Raygun.

The Australian Olympic Committee issued a statement condemning the anonymous online petition as vexatious, misleading, and bullying. AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll stated that they had requested Change.org to remove the petition immediately.

The AOC emphasized that the petition contained numerous falsehoods designed to engender hatred against an athlete who was selected transparently and independently. They found it disgraceful that such falsehoods could be published, amounting to bullying, harassment, and defamation. The community was urged to understand the facts and not form opinions based on malicious untruths.

In one of its statements, AUSBreaking reiterated that Raygun’s husband had no role in the selection panel or judging committee to avoid any conflict of interest.

Raygun herself responded to the backlash, sharing a video on Instagram reacting to the criticism. She expressed her gratitude to supporters and explained that she took the competition seriously and gave her all. Raygun also asked critics to refer to the statements issued by AUSBreaking and others regarding the accusations of rigging the competition.

She also implored the press to stop harassing her family, friends, and the broader breaking community. Despite the trolling and hatred, some people in the hip-hop community and beyond have valid questions about how she qualified for the Olympic stage.

Raygun’s losing performance stood out amid the incredible highlights of the 2024 Paris Games, featuring athletes like gymnast Simone Biles and sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson. Raygun has tried to frame her performance as an expression of creativity, but she has yet to win the hearts of many judges and internet users.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, AUSBreaking, Australian Olympic Committee