Snoop Dogg video highlights Aussie breaker accusation
Snoop Dogg has shared a video that sums up why brutal new accusations are being made against Aussie breaker “Raygun”.
Snoop Dogg’s mind was blown — just like millions of others around the world when B-Boy Phil Wizard spun his way to gold in the men’s breaking on Sunday morning (AEST).
After the viral scenes of Aussie Rachael “Raygun” Gunn competing in the women’s breaking went around the world for a different reason, this was the spectacle the International Olympic Committee (IOC) always wanted.
The Paris la Concorde urban park went wild when B-girl Ami from Japan took gold in the women’s event, but it was overshadowed by the brutal response to the 36-year-old Aussie’s performances in her round-robbin battles.
The uncomfortable dynamic has led to some cruel accusations the sport’s fate as an Olympics sport has already been decided.
Death by firing squad.
With the sport cut from the Los Angeles program for 2028, the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Organising Committee will ultimately get the final say on whether the art form will ever be resuscitated.
The evidence from the knock-out stages of the B-boys and B-girls competitions shows the sport has the potential and the legitimacy to be an Olympic sport.
The D.O Double Gee’s face said it all as he watched on.
The American rapper shared a video on Instagram on Sunday taken from the grandstand and it showed both the insane skills on display and the crowd’s amazement.
The even crueller accusation swirling is that Gunn has stolen breaking’s moment on the big stage. Her self-deprecating, unapologetically ocker style went right over the heads of the international audience and resulted in suggestions the sport was not professional enough to be added to the most elite, high performance sporting competition on the planet.
The evidence was in the comments on Snoop’s video, where Raygun again dominated the discussion despite not featuring in the footage.
“Lol real Australian break dancers must be pissed,” one comment read.
Another Instagram user wrote: “This is why breakdancing is in the Olympics! Pure athleticism!”
Conversations happening on the official Olympics Reddit page, which has 1.2 million members, also lamented the fact the art form wen under-appreciated.
“All day I saw the same few vids of the b-girls who were not able to qualify to the medal round, like the Australian,” one person wrote.
“I don’t know much about breaking, so later in the evening I watched the finals. Let me say they those dancers were VERY talented and it was a world of difference than qualifying joke videos.
“I just think the earlier videos being promoted around Reddit and the web are being disingenuous to the obviously more talented finalists. I mean, we don’t see people laughing at videos of the gymnasts who didn’t qualify or track athletes that lost in the first heat. We see the vids of the best vs the best, which is the point of the Olympics.”
World DanceSport Federation official, and B-boy head judge MGbility, spoke to reporters on Sunday night and defended the Aussie.
However, some of his comments were impossible to miss.
“Her competitors were just better but it doesn’t mean that she did really bad. She did her best,” he said.
He went on to say: “For us, she basically represented breaking and hiphop by bringing something new to the table. From our perspective, it was nothing really shocking.”
Unfortunately it’s the perception of the sport many will take away from the IOC’s great gamble on its breaking experiment.
High performance coach and leading athletics commentator Steve Magness was among those to make the blunt accusation.
“Raygun may have singlehandedly doomed break dancing from ever being in the Olympics again,” he posted on Twitter.
“I’m half serious, but people were already sceptical of it. If you saw the top people, the athleticism may have saved it
“But Raygun took the spotlight & that’s what people will remember.”
Plenty of others are still proud of Gunn’s dorky jig which was easily interpreted as a deliberate tactic to encapsulate Aussie spirit.
The problem is, the world doesn’t feel the same way - and on the international stage, that’s what matters.
On home soil the public support for Gunn goes all the way to the top.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shimmied into the debate on Sunday.
“Good on her and a big shout-out to her. That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go. She’s had a go representing our country and that’s a good thing,” Mr Albanese said.
“The Olympics is about people participating in sport,” the Prime Minister added.
“That’s a good thing and Raygun had a crack.
“Whether (athletes have) won gold medals or just done their best, that is all we ask for. It’s the participating that is really important.”
Aussie Olympic team boss has Anna Meares also hit out hard.
The AOC chef de mission said Gunn was an “absolutely loved member” of the Australian team and denounced criticism of her performance on the Olympic stage.
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After her performance at the Games, Gunn explained her unique style of breaking.
“All my moves are original,” she told reporters.
They definitely were.