Breakdancers ‘in tears’ about future of Olympics after Raygun: ‘It doesn’t reflect us’
‘This is actually affecting us on a much larger scale than just memes’
Many Australian breakdancers have spoken out on the impact of Raygun at the Olympics, and how her zero score has changed the future of their sport.
The breakdancer, Rachael Gunn, went viral during the Paris 2024 Olympics due to her performance that scored her zero points across all three rounds that she competed in. She’s already been the target of endless memes and even a parody from the The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
Although her performance seems to have skyrocketed the breakdancing Olympics category to new heights of fame, it hasn’t all been good news: Some of the Australian breakdancers have spoken out about the hardships they’ve faced due to the Raygun situation and their fears for the future of the sport.
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Leah Clark, who has been a breakdancer for 24 years and runs her own dance performance in Brisbane, commented on the situation: “It’s really affected us. We’ve got B-girls in tears about it.
“How do I go to work now try to get our sponsorship and get our grant money for breaking programs [for a sport] that’s just been made a mockery of? And how do we go and represent our country at other world level events when Australia’s been made a fool of? … This is actually affecting us on a much larger scale than just memes,” she said.
Many other girls have had to put their social media accounts on private due to all the abuse they were getting after the Olympics this year. However, the girls seem to be standing strong with Raygun and Clark assured listeners on the Decypher Culture Cast podcast that “we feel for Rachael, and we hope that she’s okay with the hate that she’s getting, but at the same time, we’re disappointed.”
Despite popular belief, Raygun was chosen based on merit and breakdancing abilities by professional judges. AusBreaking wrote: “These judges are all highly respected in their respective communities and in the international breaking scene.
“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.” So it’s true that she was selected for all the right reasons.
For more like this article about Raygun and her Olympic breakdancing, and all the latest news, drops, quizzes and memes, like The Tab on Facebook.
Related stories recommended by this writer:
• Here’s why clips of Raygun breakdancing at the Olympics are being wiped from the internet
• This is exactly why Raygun got a zero for her Olympics performance, according to an expert
• So who actually is Rachel Gunn aka Raygun, the 36 year old lecturer turned breakdancer?
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