The Australian Olympic Committee has condemned an anonymous online petition that repeated lies about how B-girl Rachael “Raygun” Gunn was selected to compete in the Paris Olympics.
AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said the petition – which also criticized Australian head of delegation Anna Meares – was “disgraceful” and amounted to bullying and harassment.
Gunn, a 36-year-old university lecturer, saw his performance in the Olympics scoring project attract widespread attention on social media. She did not receive a single point from the judges and was eliminated during the round robin stage.
The petition, which has gathered more than 45,000 signatures, accuses Gunn of “rigging” the selection process for his own benefit and questions whether Gunn’s husband was a member of the selection panel.
But Carroll said the petition contained a number of “shameful” lies designed to “spark hatred” against Gunn, who he said was elected in a transparent and independent process. He said he had written to change.org “demanding” that the petition be withdrawn immediately.
“It is shameful that these lies, concocted by anonymous individuals, could be published in this way. It amounts to bullying and harassment and is defamatory,” Carroll said in a statement.
“It is important that the community understands the facts and that people do not form opinions based on malicious lies and misinformation.”
The committee’s statement refutes many of the claims made in the petition and outlines that the qualifying jury for Gunn’s win was made up of nine independent international judges. It also said Gunn held no role in AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia, which organized the event.
Gunn’s husband, Samuel Free, a professional break dancer and Gunn’s coach, also does not hold any position with any organization and is not a judge at the qualifying competition, the statement said.
The statement also pointed out that Gonzalez was legally nominated after winning the qualifiers and that the other contestants did not appeal. Meres did not participate in the qualifiers and was not involved in the nomination of athletes.
“The AOC is particularly outraged by the insult being meted out to our Head of Mission, Anna Meares. The Australian Head of Mission played no role in the qualifications and athlete nominations of the AOC Selection Committee (of which the Chef and I are both members) .
Earlier this week, Mills launched into a passionate defense of Gunn, slamming “keyboard warriors” and calling Gunn “the best” [female breaking competitor] We provide it for Australia”.
Members of the Australian Break community described Gunn as a respected member of the local community but said her performance at the Olympics did not represent Australian Break standards.
One member said there were a number of technical factors preventing many of Australia’s best B-girls from competing in Olympic qualifying events.
