AusBreaking pioneer Leah Clark has dramatically broken ranks and spoken out on viral breakdancer Raygun.
Rachael Gunn has caused a wild storm since her performance at the Olympics and now says she has been left “devastated” by all the hate directed at her.
The 36-year-old lost her three battles in the Olympics debut of breaking, but accidentally put the sport on the map with her controversial performance.
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7NEWS reporter Grace Fitzgibbon said “while Olympians continue to publicly back Raygun, cracks are starting to appear from within the breaking community with members of the sports peak body asking what the 36-year-old was thinking”.
Those first signs of cracks were opened up by Clark — who is AusBreaking’s Queensland treasurer.
“To be honest, on a personal level, I was a little disappointed in some of the choices that she made,” Clark said on Triple J..
“I was wondering why maybe some coaches hadn’t stepped in to kind of look at what she was doing.”
The kangaroo hops and the rolling around on the floor have been widely ridiculed across the world.
“It’s really affected us. We’ve got B-girls in tears about it,” Clark — who also runs a dance school in Brisbane — told the Guardian.
“How do I go to work now and try to get our sponsorship and get our grant money for breaking programs (for a sport) that’s just been made a mockery of? And how do we go and represent our country at other world level events when Australia’s been made a fool of? … This is actually affecting us on a much larger scale than just memes.”
US comedian Jimmy Fallon openly mocked her on his world famous The Tonight Show with the use of an impersonator.
And a News Corp journalist wrote: “In a field where the other competitors looked young and fresh, we were the daggy mum … And yes, she did the sprinkler.”
A controversial petition — which has since been taken down but had more than 45,000 signatures — also wondered why “outstanding female breakdancers like G Clef and Holy Molly … were unfairly overlooked” for the Games.
That petition — set up by ‘Someone Who hates corruption’ — was demanding “a public apology” from Gunn and Australia’s chef de mission Anna Meares “for misleading the Australian public and attempting to gaslight the public and undermining the efforts of genuine athletes”.
Raygun, who is expected to spend the next few weeks in Europe, has hit back at her critics.
“I didn’t realise that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating,” she said in a video statement.
“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.
“I am honoured to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of breakings Olympic debut.”
She also urged everyone to “stop harassing” her family, friends, and the Australian breaking and the broader street dance community.
“Everyone has been through a lot as a result of this so I ask you to still respect their privacy,” she said.