Sally Pearson: Big thing everybody missed amid ugly Raygun fallout

As the world lined up to take shots at Australia’s breaking athlete, one thing was overlooked by every person critisicing her performance.

Sally Pearson on Aussie breaker Raygun

COMMENT

There’s a lot of talk at the moment about what is an Olympic sport and what’s not, what’s high performance and what’s not.

A lot of these comments are flooding the internet and directed at one person, Australia’s breaking athlete Rachael Gunn aka Raygun.

The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world, where the best athletes fight it out to see who will be crowned an Olympic Champion.

But not every athlete’s goal is to win gold.

Pierre de Coubertin, known as the father of the modern Olympics, famously said “the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning, but taking part”.

That’s exactly what Gunn did and it’s a point everybody has overlooked in the wake of her display.

She also has everyone talking and I’m sure after her performance, people will be talking for a long time.

Anna Meares, the chef de mission for the Australian team at these Games, said “what has occurred on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors and taking those comments and giving them airtime has been really disappointing”.

I fully agree with what Anna said, I do not in anyway condone bullying or trolling anyone and I think it’s horrible what people have been saying about her.

Imagine being laughed at around the world from people who don’t know you. Imagine thinking that you did such a great job and being proud of your efforts to then realise you were being made a mockery of.

The Aussie didn’t hit the right note with viewers. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Gunn went viral after her performances. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

How are kids seeing that type of feedback given to someone, supposed to respond to that? Surely this backlash on an athlete won’t help the sport of breaking in any way with future generations to come.

Rachael Gunn by her own admission said that, “I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way”.

It was giving Eddie the Eagle or Eric the Eel vibes - except those athletes were applauded and celebrated not trolled and attacked online.

I think what most people are questioning is not what she did on Friday night but how was she selected in the first place?

Well to be selected all breakers must endure a tripartite qualifying route to earn a spot for the Games through the following tournaments: the 2023 WDSF World Championships, the continental championships (European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games, African Championships, and Oceania Championships), and the four-month-long Olympic Qualifier Series.

Gunn’s moves raised eyebrows across the globe. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

It really is a shame that the Paris Olympics is Australia’s best ever Games sitting third on the medal table with 18 Gold but some people will only remember Australia’s performance from what Gunn did.

It seems as though, whether you agree with it or not, whether you think this is an Olympic sport or not, or whether it’s a high performance sport or not, Raygun has ticked all the boxes and legitimately earnt her spot on the team and she will be forever etched in Australia’s history as Australia’s lone female b-girl.

The Los Angeles Olympics have decided not to add this event into the program in four years time so now the question is, do we need anymore exhibition sports?

There was no gold for Raygun. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Sally Pearson with her gold in London. Pic. Brett Costello

I love the traditional sports of the Olympics but to move forward and progress we need to keep people engaged through all different types of sport.

I can’t say I was inspired or entertained at all by what I witnessed from Rachael Gunn, but then again what is inspiring and entertaining?

It’s different for everyone and viewers will tune into the Olympics for all sorts of reasons. One of my favourite things, other than watching who was dominating on the famous purple athletics track, was to wait and see what Snoop Dog was going to do next.

Gunn brought more eyes to breaking than probably anyone else in that sport, she’s second behind the Olympics as the top trending Google searches at the time of writing.

Maybe not for the right reasons but I’m sure there are a lot of young kids and adults who will be in their lounge rooms trying out the famous kangaroo and sprinkler moves thinking that they can be the next Rachael Gunn.

- Sally Pearson is an Olympic gold medallist and one of Australia’s greatest ever track and field athletes. She is writing exclusively with news.com.au ahead of the Paris Olympics

Originally published as Sally Pearson: Big thing everybody missed amid ugly Raygun fallout