A friend of the Australian who made international headlines for her zero-scoring breakdancing routine at the Olympic Games in Paris has spoken out about Racheal Gunn, saying people have failed to understand her. There has been speculation about why Gunn, known as RayGun, performed the strange dance act at the Paris competition, with some suggesting she was pursuing an academic exercise. Sunny Spiteri, one of RayGun’s closest friends, insists that the Australian was genuine and that her dance was an demonstration of her creativity.
“It’s creative expression, and she is well respected in the community for her musicality and creativity,” Spiteri said. She also insisted that her friend has won breakdancing contests with her unique “kangaroo dance” moves, adding that in her view, the Olympic judges awarded her zero points because they work on a narrow and rigid set of criteria that is not open to RayGun’s unusual approach.
The Australian sporting committee responsible for choosing to send Gunn to Paris is under pressure to explain why it did so. A spokesperson for AusBreaking explained that the selection process took place over a two-day period and was open to people with various routines.
The process involved a panel of nine judges who used the “same system” as used at the Olympic Games. The group said it had upheld the “highest standards of impartiality.” In conclusion, AusBreaking stated that Gunn and fellow competitor Jeff Dunne emerged as the top performers and legitimately secured their place on the Australian Olympic team.
Nevertheless, a 36-year-old breakdancer, who lost out to Gunn for a spot on Australia’s team, has posted a video of her routine to social media, prompting outrage that she lost out to Rachael Gunn. Molly Chapman’s supporters even suggested that the selection process was “rigged,” while others said Chapman’s routine was also not up to scratch.
Amid the controversy, however, Olympic judge Martin Gilian defended RayGun, saying her peformance was original and she was “trying to bring something different to the table.” The general secretary of the World DanceSport Federation, Sergey Nifontov, disagreed, saying, “Something is going in the wrong direction.”