SYDNEY-. Australian Rachael Gunn said the criticism and ridicule of her performance in the Olympic breaking competition had been “devastating” and said Thursday she was serious about competing and trying to do her best.
The 36-year-old b-girl, who goes by the nickname Raygun, said in a video posted on social media that she was not prepared for the level of negative attention she has generated since judges gave her zero marks in her Olympic debut.
Meanwhile, the Australian Olympic Committee has criticised an anonymous online petition demanding an apology from the Paris competitor.
The Committee considered that this request is “vexatious, misleading and harassing.”
“I didn’t realize that I would open the door to so much hate, which has been frankly very devastating,” Gunn said. “But I went out there and had fun. I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off to get ready for the Olympics and I really tried to give it my all.”
Break dancing made its debut on the Olympic programme last weekend. One of the most widely shared images on social media was of a performance by Gunn, a university professor in Sydney.
Gunn performed a “kangaroo dance” and other steps of dubious difficulty during her routine, which received zero points from the judges.
Cruel criticism of Gunn on the Internet was followed by several parodies of his performance, including on the American program “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
In the video, Gunn says she has suffered abuse that goes beyond criticism of her dance moves.
“I would really like to ask the press to please stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community and the wider street dance community,” she said. “They have all been through a lot as a result of this. So I ask that you please respect their privacy.”
Gunn, who has not returned to Australia since the Games, did receive support from Anna Meares, head of the Australian delegation, while still in Paris. On Thursday, the committee went a step further, refuting several stories that have appeared online since then.
Matt Carroll, the committee’s chief executive, said it had written to change.org, which had posted a petition criticising Gunn and Australia’s sporting leaders.
More than 40,000 people had signed the petition, which claimed Gunn had “manipulated” Olympic qualifying procedures.
Change.org said in a statement that it had removed the petition, saying it was misleading people.
“We maintain strict guidelines against content that constitutes harassment or bullying, or that spreads false information,” the site stressed. “We take these matters seriously and remove any content that violates these standards in order to protect our users and maintain the integrity of our community.”
For breaking, the Paris Games would have been the debut and farewell. The discipline does not appear on the programme for Los Angeles 2028, and it is considered unlikely to appear in Brisbane, Australia, in 2032.
