Since her emergence on the breaking stage at the Paris Olympics, Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, has attracted a lot of discussion. At first, the academic-turned-bgirl came under heavy fire because of her dance moves and costume choices. She performed a kangaroo hop on the stage wearing a dark green and gold tracksuit with a cap, signifying her Australian identity. Furthermore, her dance moves failed to earn any single point in front of her opponents in the round-robin stage, ending her chance at the Paris Olympics. However, the fans are not happy with the situation. 

They went after each subject, from Rachael Gunn’s entry to her exit from the Olympics, and discovered some stunning facts. Furthermore, they fumed over the absence of other Australian participants in the event. Let’s dive in to explore those points. 

Is there a planned effort to make Rachael Gunn eligible for the Paris Olympics? 

Recently on Reddit, Rachael Gunn’s performance clip went viral, showing her breaking in front of her Australian teammates before the closing ceremony. However, her performance didn’t make much of an impression among fans. Many pointed out that even in a relaxed outfit, the NSW native appeared uncomfortable executing her breaking moves, which sparked debate about her selection for the Olympic team. A few fans even looked into the qualification standards for Australia’s breaking participant at this Olympics, and what they found raised concerns.

Two days ago, a Reddit user named lizPyrate posted a detailed discussion on the topic. The post revealed that the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) was responsible for qualifying break dancers for the Paris Olympics. However, in Australia, the WDSF doesn’t have much influence over breaking. Instead, the responsibility fell to Ausbreaking to finalize the participants. And that’s where the twist comes in.

Ausbreaking, a small group of break dancers, holds annual competitions in Sydney, attracting a regular set of participants, including Rachael Gunn. This year, they partnered with DanceSport Australia to host the WDSF Oceania Championships, where familiar faces competed, and Gunn emerged victorious. However, she failed to qualify in the other two events, raising concerns among fans about the fairness and transparency of the selection process.

The argument and counterarguments regarding the entry in the qualifier 

The WDSF Oceania Championships were staged at Sydney’s Town Hall, and it was a minor affair. The complaint is that hardly anyone from Ausbreaking knew about this. One fan could readily add to that: “They also made the competition very inaccessible, so it was basically a competition among their friend group. Lol.” However, as per the updates, the event had a 10-judge panel, coming from different countries, and ‌52 entrants. But on the first day, the pool was reduced to just eight competitors. This could spark another argument. 

Another Reddit user argued, “From all accounts she essentially made sure she was the Australian representative for breaking in the Olympics and that alone should be the disappointing story regardless of how good or bad she actually is at breaking.” But this claim does not stand either. Meanwhile, the clamor increased, questioning her internal role in running Ausbreaking.

One such comment floated as, “According to articles RayGun was a founder of AusBreak too. It’s a small group so wouldn’t surprise me if she and her coach husband basically ran the thing. Would explain why/how she selected herself to go lol”. 

Yet one of the Reddit users demolished this claim as well by adding, “She does not run AUSbreaking.” Notably, Lowe Naplan runs the said organization, and Rachael Gunn is not in the governing body. In the meantime, one fan described the clear picture by revealing, “I’m from Perth and whilst I haven’t been in the scene for a few years, there’s some amazing talent to be found that would have represented us a lot better.” This raises a significant point, as Ausbreaking’s limited scope may hinder broader participation in the qualification process. While concerns about the inclusivity and fairness of the selection have emerged, the growing public discussion around the issue could lead to positive changes in the future.