Australia’s Olympic breaking contender and viral sensation Raygun broke out some of her moves in the streets of Paris to celebrate the end of the Games, as more athletes and politicians in her home country praised her for having “a crack”.
Footage filmed by several fellow Australian Olympians shows Rachael Gunn joyfully breaking out some of her iconic moves in Paris ahead of Sunday night’s closing ceremony. The Australian diver Domonic Bedggood shared some footage of the moment on Instagram and wrote, “Put it in the Louvre.”
She was carried on the shoulders of the rower Angus Widdicombe as she re-enacted one of the more memorable moments from her performance – the kangaroo hop.
The Australian cyclist Lauretta Hanson captured the moment and simply wrote “iconic”, as the athletes revelled in closing ceremony celebrations and music blared from a boombox.
Gunn, a university lecturer with a PhD in cultural studies, failed to receive a point from the Olympic judges and was knocked out at the round-robin stage of the competition, but became a global sensation after footage of her unique performance went viral.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the Olympics was all about participation and congratulated Raygun for representing the country.
“Raygun had a crack, good on her, and a big shout-out to her,” he told reporters on Sunday. “That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go.”
On Monday morning Albanese continued the praise, telling Triple M Adelaide he had wanted to respond to “a bit to the pile-on that happened”.
Labor’s environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, told Channel Seven that “haters are going to hate”, and that if she could, she would buy a Raygun T-shirt.
“The rest of those people are sitting on their couch mucking around on social media. She’s actually represented our country at the Paris Olympics. She’s an Olympian,” Plibersek said.
“No one can ever take that away from her. Good on her for having a go.
“I’m, you know, a bit hopeless at sport. But having a go makes me feel good. That’s what it’s about, right?”
The former Socceroos captain Craig Foster praised Raygun and spoke out in her defence, stating that “Australians shouldn’t leave people behind because they do things differently”.
“We get around them. And lift them up,” he said. “That’s what we learn as team athletes, anyway.
“Raygun stepped up and did her stuff in front of the world, her way. Not everyone can say that in life. It took guts to be different. And certainly to keep smiling, and dancing after the barrage she received.”
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The Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said that he did not agree with the “denigration of any human being” but said “international commentary” was part and parcel of being an international competitor.
“It’s like going to the AFL or the league or watching the Wallabies. People will comment about whether you had a good game or bad game. You have to accept that part of it,” he said.
“We comment on the swimmers. We comment on so many other people exactly how they went.”
The Australian rapper Illy suggested the focus was on the wrong half of Australia’s breakdancing team, writing on Instagram that Raygun’s performance was “sick, and not in some ironic, ‘in on the gag’ way”.
“Can [Australia] at least try and make this kid famous instead?!” Illy wrote, pointing to 16-year-old Jeff “J-Attack” Dunne – Australia’s entrant in the men’s breakdancing event.
Dunne did not progress to the knockout stages of the competition, but earned a few votes and words of encouragement from his fellow B-boys. He had nothing but praise for Raygun, stating that she “represented hard” and “has been the leading breaker in Australia for the women”.
“I acknowledge her and respect her 100 per cent.”
Australia’s Olympic team boss, chef de mission Anna Meares, previously jumped to Raygun’s defence and said she was an “absolutely loved member” of the team.
“What has occurred on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors, and taking those comments and giving them airtime, has been really disappointing,” she told reporters.
