Australian authorities criticized controversial wrecker Rachael Gunn

SIDNEY – The Australian Olympic Committee criticized an anonymous online petition attacking controversial Paris Games slamming contestant Rachael Gunn, saying the petition was “vexatious, misleading and intimidating.”

Last weekend, the sport of breaking made her Olympic debut. One of the lasting images was the performance of an Australian b-girl known as Raygun – Gunn, a 36-year-old university professor from Sydney – who did a “kangaroo dance” among other questionable moves during her performance, and scored zero points. .

Gunn was later heavily criticized for his performance with parodies even shown on a late-night television program in the United States.

Gunn, who has not yet returned to Australia after the Games, received strong support from the Australian team’s chef de mission, Anna Meares, while still in Paris. On Thursday, AOC took a big step forward, refuting numerous erroneous stories that he says have since appeared online.

CEO Matt Carroll said AOC wrote to change.org, which published a petition criticizing Gunn and AOC, demanding it be immediately taken down.

More than 40,000 people signed the petition alleging that Gunn “rigged” the Olympic qualification processes.

Carroll says the petition “contained numerous falsehoods designed to generate hatred against an athlete who was selected for the Australian Olympic team through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process”.

“It is shameful that these falsehoods concocted by an anonymous person can be published in this way,” Carroll said. “This amounts to intimidation and harassment and is defamatory. We demand that it be removed from the site immediately. represented their country at the Olympic Games should be treated this way.

Last week’s online criticism included suggestions that the Oceania qualifying event, held in Sydney last October, was designed to favor Gunn, and questioned the judgment that allowed Gunn to qualify.

The COA said on Thursday that the Oceania qualification event was conducted under the Olympic qualification system determined by the international governing body, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) and approved by the International Olympic Committee.

It stated that the judging panel for the event was selected by the WDSF and consisted of nine independent international judges.

Unattributed comments on social media also suggested that Gunn and her husband, fellow wrecker Samuel Free, held positions in Australian wrecking organizations.

“Rachael Gunn does not hold any position with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia in any capacity,” AOC said on Thursday. “She is simply an athlete who competed in the qualifying event which she won.”

Breaking at the Olympics could be something unique in Paris. It is not on the list of competitions for the next Olympics in Los Angeles, in 2028, and is also unlikely to appear in 2032, in Brisbane, Australia.

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