Australian professor Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, who participated in the women’s breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, went viral for her less than stellar performance.
Many in the Hip-Hop community felt she made a mockery of the art, spawning seemingly endless posts about the negative impact she had on breaking’s reputation. Rock Steady Crew legend, one of the world’s most famous b-boys, was forced to make a statement about Gunn’s performance. He concluded she should have bowed out and admitted to herself she wasn’t ready. He also placed some of the blame on the judges, who simply should’ve known better.
At the same time, Crazy Legs stood up for Gunn and insisted she didn’t deserve all the hate she’s been getting.
“Judges should stand up and say this girl doesn’t reach the qualifications of someone who should be performing on this level and protect Hip-Hop culture with that statement. I don’t know the girl, don’t know who she is, never heard of her. I think on her part she could have said, ‘Hey, this is out of my league. I shouldn’t be on this platform or maybe Australia as a country should have told her to fall back on this one.
“Maybe in her mind she’s better than what she thinks and that’s something for her to work out on her own. Do I think she deserves the amount of criticism she’s getting? Nah. In the United States, we are the über version of Live at the Apollo. You see something coming sideways, the jokes are coming fast and hard.”
Crazy Legs concluded all of the dragging online could have a serious impact on Gunn’s mental health and encouraged people to “ease up.”
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But others aren’t so forgiving, even the judges who gave her zero points for her routine. In head-to-head battles against b-girls from the USA, France and Lithuania, she pulled out some questionable moves like kangaroo hopping and swimming on the ground.
Some netizens were less than impressed, posting messages like “There’s 27.7 million Australians in the world and that’s who they send to the Olympics for this inaugural event??? C’mon now!”
And there’s a sense even Gunn knew she wasn’t qualified to be there. She later told reporters, “I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get that in a lifetime to do that on an international stage,” suggesting she knew her moves weren’t on par with high-level b-girls or b-boys.
Legendary b-boy Popmaster Fabel also had some choice words about Gunn’s inclusion. Taking to Instagram, he chastised the powers that be who allowed Gunn to represent breaking on a world stage.
“Although I do not support the idea of including Breaking in the Olympics, I congratulate the winners. That said…I’m praying to Almighty God that Australia has much better B-girls than Rachael Gunn aka Raygun! I feel like she was purposely placed for some weird type of comedy relief. It’s shameful and a cheap shot at making a mockery of our sacred dance and culture. This extremely poor example of talent would have NEVER been allowed in any other Olympic category!
“Yet another reason why Breaking does not belong in the Olympics! How were the contestants chosen? Who chose the judges? Who chose the commentators? Who chose the DJs? Again, too many questions and not enough answers! It truly p##### me off! In the REAL world of Breaking, she would not have been granted the privilege to rep our dance on that platform regardless of the country! Its criteria and authenticity is not in harmony with the organic process that birthed it.”
He clarified further, “My comments are not meant to attack or hurt Raygun as a person. I’m aware of the fact that she has feelings as do we all. I’m simply stating that she should not have been placed at all in that position until she trained enough to be a top competitor on a global scale. I’ve always stood my ground against having Breaking in the Olympics! I do not believe Breaking in the Olympics is conducive to our dance and/or culture!
“I believe having Breaking in the Olympics is yet another form of cultural appropriation and unfortunately, our very own cultural brothers and sisters are being bought into the game. Regardless of my stance, I do congratulate the winners and those who truly earned placement in an arena that ultimately does not belong to us!”
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