Opinion: Regardless of your thoughts on Raygun’s dancing, nothing justifies the hate she has copped

Being casually cruel and deeply vitriolic to a breakdancer is not the flex you think it is. Raygun has dealt with more hatred in a month than most people do in a lifetime, and that’s not OK.

The first meme I saw about Raygun at the Paris Olympics was Lord of the Rings themed.

It was actually very funny. I didn’t think anything of it and kept scrolling.

I hadn’t even watched her performance at that stage. I didn’t know the meme I was laughing about was one of the kinder ones, not one grounded in utter contempt.

Watching Raygun break her silence on The Project last night, I was barely thinking about her Olympic performance.

This was not about her as an athlete.

This was about a person, the same as you or I, who has been bullied, threatened, harassed, ostracised, criticised and browbeaten – by the whole damn world.

Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn breaks her silence on her infamous performance at the Olympics on The Project. Picture: Channel 10

Several times throughout the interview, she repeated “there are good days and bad days”. I think that’s putting it lightly.

Overnight, she became the centre of a global social media storm and the most famous Olympian to compete this year.

She was on the receiving end of unbridled hatred, ignorance, spite and diatribe. I’m not particularly interested in justifications.

Regardless of your thoughts on Raygun’s performance, there is just never an excuse for treating someone that way – especially online. What total cowardice.

There are ways to critique someone without being abjectly, unnecessarily cruel – and that’s exactly what people were.

It wasn’t a swarm of keyboard warriors attacking her, it was an organised, battle-ready army intent on war. None of us could even begin to understand what that must be like.

Regardless of your thoughts on Raygun’s performance, cruelty is never OK. Picture: Odd Andersen/AFP

Fortunately, I can’t relate to what Raygun is going through.

But even in my corner of the internet, I have received disgusting, horrific hate mail from a small batch of unhinged readers.

The first time I received a death threat, I was 21 and it felt like the world had stopped turning. The fear was palpable, but I took my colleagues’ advice and reported it to the police.

From that point forward, all other hate mail has been treated similarly.

How do you begin reporting threats to the police when they’re coming in as thick and fast as they were to Raygun?

It makes me shudder to think about it.

I was impressed by her composure on The Project last night.

Sending someone hate because they did a quirky breakdancing move is not the flex you think it is. Picture: Getty Images

I hope the takeaway from this fandango is that it costs absolutely nothing to not be a foul human.

Raygun showed in the interview that she actually has a great sense of humour and was able to laugh at the genuinely funny takes on her performance.

But posting malicious comments on Facebook about a woman who dared to do the kangaroo in a breakdancing battle? Come on …

Before you post something online, ask yourself whether you’d say it to their face, say it unwaveringly and say it with your whole chest.

If the answer is no, swallow the word vomit and go touch some grass.

You’ll thank me later.