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The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are over and one of the biggest stars coming out of the event, for better or worse, is a 36-year-old Australian breakdancer named Raygun.
Dr. Rachel Gunn, who goes by the breakdancing name of Raygun, went viral for her comically bad routines, losing each of the battles she participated in.
That left many wondering how the heck she made it all the way to the Olympics. And, as it turns out, she may well have done so by manipulating the system to keep better, more deserving dancers out.
@holdensmith962 She def manipulated it bc theres no way she just qualified on skill lol #popculture #popculturenews #raygun #olympics #parisolympics #olympicspirit #breakdance #foryou
TikTok user @HoldenSmith962 posted a video on Monday breaking down the potential scandal. He references a Change.org petition titled “Hold Raygun Rachel Gunn & Anna Mears Accountable for Unethical Conduct Olympic Selection.”
So, what exactly is the petition about?
It claims Gunn “set up her own governing body for breakdancing” and manipulated said governing body for her own benefit.
Gunn allegedly set up her own qualifying tournament and denied funding to other competitors in order to compete. The petition also alleges that her husband was the coach of the Australian Olympic breakdancing team.
A second TikTok, posted by user @TheSashaWhitney, dove even deeper into the potential scandal.
@thesashawhitney Gentrification strikes again lol 😅 I’m a very “why is this happening“ person so in case you watch the Olympics and we’re wondering the same thing during Raygan‘s breakdancing performance, here’s how we got here! #r#raygunt#theolympicsb#breakdancingo#olympicsbreakdancinga#australiag#gentrificationb#breakings#samfreew#wdsfw#wdsfdancesport#greenscreen
Whitney revealed that while governing bodies wanted breakdancing in the Olympics, several of its top competitors were opposed to the idea.
She states that the World DanceSport Federation created its own governing body to oversee breakdancing prior to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Competitors who wished to enter qualifying tournaments had to be members of the WDSF. Many potential competitors could not afford the associated fees.
Whitney also stated that the WDSF only held one qualifying competition in Australia.
So at very best, the qualifying process was extremely restrictive. At worst, it was fixed. And it resulted in complete and total embarrassment for both Raygun and Australia.