Breakdancer Raygun devastated by 'so much hate’ after her Paris Olympics performance

Aussie breakdancer ‘Raygun’ says the vitriol she’s copped since the Paris Olympics has been devastating because she thought her routine would bring joy but instead it opened the door “to so much hate”.

Olympic breakdancer Raygun has opened up on the vitriol she has copped following her dire Paris Olympics performance, saying she did her best and had hoped to bring joy but “didn’t realise that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating”.

Rachael Gunn, known competitively as Raygun, took to Instagram late on Thursday night AEST from Europe to thank those who had supported her and plead for harassment of her family, friends, the Australian breaking community and the broader street dance community to end.

“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,” she said.

“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 misinformation floating around? I’d like to ask everyone to please refer to the recent statement made by the AOC, as well as the posts on the Oz Breaking Instagram page … bit of a fun fact for you, there are actually no points in breaking.”

Raygun says she worked her butt off preparing for the Olympics. Picture: Getty

Gunn added that if people wanted to see how the judges thought she compared to her opponents, they could check out the comparison percentages across the five criteria on Olympics.com.

“All the results are there,” she said, adding she would remain in Europe for a few weeks, “for some pre planned downtime”.

Rachael 'Raygun' Gunn shared a video statement online on Thursday night. Picture: Instagram

“Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this,” Raygun said of the fallout from her performance.

“So I ask you to please respect their privacy. I’ll be happy to answer more questions on my return to Australia.”

It came as a change.org petition taking aim at Rachel “Raygun” Gunn and Chef De Mission Anna Meares following the former’s now viral performance in the breakdancing discipline at the Olympic Games was slammed by the AOC.

The petition titled, Hold Raygun Rachel Gunn & Anna Mears (sic) Accountable for Unethical Conduct Olympic Selection, went online Monday and garnered more than 45,000 signatures.

AOC CEO Matt Carroll didn’t hold back when taking aim at the petition, claiming it was completely inaccurate, considering Gunn’s qualification was done independently of the AOC, labelling it “misleading and bullying”.

“The Australian Team Chef de Mission played no role in the qualification events nor the nomination of athletes to the AOC Selection Committee, of which the Chef and I are members,” he said.

“It is disgraceful that these falsehoods concocted by an anonymous person can be published in this way. It amounts to bullying and harassment and is defamatory.

“We are demanding that it be removed from the site immediately.

“It’s important that the community understands the facts and that people do not form opinions based on malicious untruths and misinformation.”

Meanwhile, the coach of Australia’s Olympic male breakdancing competitor Jeff Dunne has claimed the 16-year-old’s performance was adversely affected by the viral fallout from Gunn’s routine.

Taking to Instagram, Dunne’s coach Liam Masters said his young charge was put under undue pressure and scrutiny thanks to Gunn’s now infamous Friday routine that made waves around the world.

“On Saturday Jeff woke up and his phone was flooded,” he posted. “Hundreds and hundreds of messages with the videos, the memes, the jokes, the trolling, the articles.

“The amount of pressure that was created for Jeff on the day was ridiculous … he knew everyone was waiting to see if he was going to deliver or not.”

The coach was quick to praise Dunne for the way he performed on the world’s biggest sporting stage, given the circumstances.

“I really hope that the Australian media can get behind Jeff for his awesome achievement with what he did for his age and what he’s overcome,” he said.

“It’s such an achievement to be 16 years of age and overcome the buckling pressure that the whole world was watching.”

Mr Masters also had his say on the criticism of Gunn, calling it “pathetic”.

“Raygun is a human being and she doesn’t deserve any of this,” he said.

Originally published as Breakdancer Raygun devastated by 'so much hate’ after her Paris Olympics performance