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Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn says the backlash to her performance at the Olympics has been “devastating”.
Gunn – who is known as B-girl Raygun – has been the subject of a social media storm since breaking’s debut at the Paris Games last week.
A petition calling for an apology from Gunn, 36, as well as from Australia’s Olympic chef de mission Anna Meares, received more than 54,000 signatures before it was taken down.
In an Instagram video, Gunn said she didn’t realise her appearance would “open the door to so much hate”.
On Thursday, Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief executive Matt Carroll said the petition had “stirred up public hatred without any factual basis”, adding it was “vexatious, misleading and bullying”.
The petition said Gunn and track cyclist Meares – who is a two-time Olympic champion – should say sorry for “attempting to gaslight the public and undermining the efforts of genuine athletes”.
Change.org said the petition was “flagged for misinformation” and removed after review.
After thanking her supporters, Gunn said: “I really appreciated the positivity and I’m glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives – that’s what I hoped.
“Well, I went out there and I had fun – I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave my all. Truly.
“And I’m honoured to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team; to be a part of breaking’s Olympic debut.”
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Gunn, a university lecturer from Sydney, lost all three of her round-robin battles.
“Bit of a fun fact for you: there are actually no points in breaking,” she said.
“If you want to see how the judges scored me compared to my opponents, you can actually see the comparison percentages across the five criteria on Olympics.com – all the results are there.”
She also asked her critics “in regard to the allegations and misinformation floating around”, to refer to Carroll’s statement, in which he said Gunn was “selected through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process”.
Gunn added: “I’d really like to ask the press to please stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community and the broader street dance community.
“Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this, so I ask you to please respect their privacy.”
