By Canadian Press

Controversial Australian Olympic breaker retires from competition

Nov 6, 2024 | 5:39 PM

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian breaker Rachael Gunn has told a Sydney radio station that she plans to retire from competition just three months after her unconventional routine at the Paris Olympics led to her being ridiculed and spawned conspiracy theories about how she qualified for the Games.

The now 37-year-old Sydney university lecturer failed to get on the scoreboard in all three of her competition rounds in August, with a routine that included unorthodox moves such as a kangaroo hop.

Gunn had initially planned to keep competing but said the experience had been so “upsetting” that she changed her mind.

“I just didn’t have any control over how people saw me or who I was,” she told radio station 2DayFM. “I was going to keep competing, for sure, but that seems really difficult for me to do now. I think the level of scrutiny that’s going to be there, and people will be filming it, and it will go online.”

Breaking was being contested at an Olympics for the first time . And it might be a one-and-done, not scheduled on the Olympic program for Los Angeles in 2028 or for Brisbane, Australia in 2032.

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“Raygun” as she was known, was later ridiculed on social media, with some posts also questioning the Olympic qualifying process.

In a television interview for The Project on Australia’s Channel 10 in September, she told of being chased by cameras through Paris streets and how she dealt with the very public reaction to her performance.

“That was really wild,” she said. “If people are chasing me, what do I do? That really did put me in a state of panic. I was nervous to be out in public. It was pretty nerve-wracking for a while.”

She apologized for the commotion, but again defended her performance and said she was thankful for support from others in the sport.

She had previously defended how she qualified for Paris, and reiterated it on the TV program.

“I won the Oceania championships. It was a direct qualifier,” Gunn said. “There were nine judges, all from overseas. I knew my chances were slim as soon as I qualified,” for the Olympics.

“People didn’t understand breaking and were just angry about my performance,” she added. “The conspiracy theories were just awful and that was really upsetting. People are now attacking our reputation and our integrity — none of them were grounded in facts.”

Gunn’s performance was mocked online and on television, including in a sketch on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night TV show.

In her Sydney radio interview Wednesday, Gunn said she won’t stop breaking entirely.

“I still dance and I still break.” she said. “But that’s like, in my living room with my partner.”

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AP Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

The Associated Press