Olympic breaker Rachel “Raegan” Gunn’s performance at the Paris Olympics made the world think, “Come to think of it, I can do that,” leading some to speculate how she ended up representing Australia.
One theory emerged Gunn and her husband, Samuel Free, claimed she had rigged the system to get into the Olympics.
A change.org petition alleging that Gunn “manipulated” the qualifying process has garnered more than 40,000 signatures. From ESPNThe Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) subsequently wrote to the website requesting it be removed, citing false allegations, and the petition was removed.
“(AOC CEO) Matt Carroll said the petition contains numerous falsehoods aimed at inciting hatred against the athletes who were selected for Australia’s Olympic team through a transparent and independent selection and nomination process.” According to a statement from AOC:.
Since Raegan’s terrible performance went viral, conspiracy theories about her have been circulating. After promotion The post, posted by the account @AutismCapital, describes itself as “citizen journalism with a touch of humor,” and had been viewed 3.2 million times as of Friday morning.
The theory is that the Olympics outsourced the qualification process to the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), which then outsourced it to DanceSport Australia, which then handed the baton over to the Australian Breaking Association, which was supposedly set up by Gunn and Freeh, on Gunn’s advice.
Gunn continued that very few women attended the tournament he won, adding that Free had become Australia’s coach.
“Basically, Rachel selected herself to represent Australia in Olympic breakdancing and the rest is history,” the post read.
However, the allegations are false.
The community notes for the aforementioned tweet denied the allegations, saying “Neither Rachel Gunn nor her husband are founders of the Australian Breaking Association (founded by Lo Napalan). They are not involved in the leadership of the ABA in any capacity.”
a Link to Australian Breaking Association The charity’s website does not list Raygun or Free in the “persons responsible” section.
The AOC outlined the process for Gunn’s qualification, saying the Oceania qualifier, which Gunn won in October 2023, “was conducted in accordance with the Olympic Qualification System” set up by the WDSF and approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The event featured a nine-person “independent international jury” approved by the WSDF, but Freeh was not one of them and the event was run according to WSDF rules.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that 15 women were invited to register for the event, with Reagan beating three other competitors in the final round to qualify.
“We won the Oceania qualifier and by winning that tournament we qualified directly for Paris.” Reagan told the outlet: It took place before the Olympics. “It was really nerve wracking, really stressful, but it was a really great tournament.”
AOC also said that neither Raegun nor Free are affiliated with the Australian Breaking Association or DanceSport Australia and that Raegun has no say in funding.
“Dr Rachel Gunn, who wins the Oceania Breaking Championships in October 2023, has been duly recommended by DanceSport Australia to the Australian Olympic Committee for selection into the Australian Olympic Team,” the AOC statement read.
Ragan spoke Thursday about the controversy and how the negativity has affected her.
“I had no idea it would open the door for so much hate. Frankly, it’s been pretty devastating.” She said in a video posted to her Instagram account.“While I enjoyed competing, I took it seriously and gave it my all in preparation for the Olympics. I’m honoured to be part of the Australian Olympic team and have played a part in breaking’s Olympic debut. The achievements of the other athletes are incredible.”
