The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and b-girl Raygun fired back at the criticism levied at the organization and the breaker over her performance at the Paris Olympics.
The performance from Raygun, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, sparked widespread mocking as she received zero points across three bouts for her "kangaroo dance" and other maneuvers she did on the floor. The mocking turned into theories about the AOC’s decision to send her to the Summer Games in the first place.
More than 40,000 people signed a Change.org petition claiming Raygun "manipulated" the Olympic qualification process. Other claims were made about the validity of the Oceania qualifying event and speculation that she and fellow breaker Samuel Free had positions in Australian breaking organizations.
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While Raygun received support from Australian team chef de mission Anna Meares, the AOC released a statement on Thursday pushing back on the criticism.
AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll said the organization wrote to the petition company demanding that it be withdrawn over "numerous falsehoods designed to engender hatred against an athlete who was selected in the Australian Olympic team through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process."
"It is disgraceful that these falsehoods concocted by an anonymous person can be published in this way," Carroll said. "It amounts to bullying and harassment and is defamatory. We are demanding that it be removed from the site immediately. No athlete who has represented their country at the Olympic Games should be treated in this way. …"
The AOC said the qualifying event in question was conducted under the Olympic qualification system determined by the international governing body, the World DanceSport Fderation (WDSF), and approved by the International Olympic Committee.
The WDSF said the judging panel for the event consisted of nine independent international judges, the AOC added.
"Rachael Gunn holds no position with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia in any capacity," the AOC said. "She is simply an athlete who competed in the qualifying event which she won."
Raygun posted a video on her Instagram, thanking those for their support and maintained she took her performance seriously.
"I really appreciate the positivity, and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives – that’s what I hoped," she said. "I didn’t realize that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating.
"While I went out there and had fun, I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave my all, truly. I’m honored to be a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of breaking’s Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved have just been phenomenal."
Raygun referred to the AOC’s statement and asked the media to stop "harassing" those close to her.
"In regard to the allegations and misinformation floating around, I’d like to ask everyone to please refer to the recent statement made by the AOC as well as the posts on the Oz Breaking Instagram page as well as the (World DanceSport Federation) Breaking for Gold page," she said.
"I’d really like to ask the press to stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community and the broader strict dance community. Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this. So, I ask you to please respect their privacy."
She added that she will be taking a vacation in Europe before returning to Australia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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