- Nearly 50,000 people sign petition demanding apology for Raygun
- Olympic leaders furious over ‘bullying’ statement
The Australian Olympic Committee has launched a furious attack on a petition demanding a public apology for breakdancer Rachael Gunn’s performance at the Paris Olympics, alleging that the petition bullied her and spread a series of lies.
Nearly 50,000 people have signed the petition on change.org since it was created on Monday.
There are calls for “immediate accountability and transparency over the recent actions” of Gunn and Paris mission chief Anna Meares over the manner in which Gunn was selected to represent Australia in Paris.
The call to action accuses the 36-year-old of “manipulating the selection process to her own advantage” so she would be chosen over more talented Australian female breakers, a charge that is described as “raising serious questions about the fairness and integrity of the process”.
No evidence has been provided to support the allegations in the petition.
AOC director Matt Carroll said the petition, which demands that Gunn and Meares publicly apologize, is “shocking” and “not based on fact.”
Carroll said the petition was an “insult” to Meares, who played no role in overseeing the nomination of Olympic athletes to the AOC selection committee or the qualifying events for various sports.
He also said it had incited “public hatred” against Gunn and that AOC had written a letter to change.org requesting that the petition be removed immediately.
A petition calling for a public apology from breakdancer Rachael Gunn (pictured) and Paris Games chef de mission Anna Meares has been criticised by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) for being full of lies
At the time of writing, over 46,000 people had signed the call to action (see photo)
AOC director Matt Carroll (pictured) called the petition “shocking” and said it had “no factual basis”
“The AOC is particularly offended by the insult directed at our Chef de Mission, Anna Meares. The Australian Team Chef de Mission played no role in the qualifying events or the nomination of athletes to the AOC Selection Committee, of which the Chef and I are members,” Carroll said in a statement on Thursday.
“It is outrageous that these lies, made up by an anonymous person, can be published in this way. It amounts to bullying and intimidation and is defamatory. We demand that it be removed from the site immediately.
‘The petition has stirred up public hatred without any factual basis. It is appalling. No athlete who has represented their country at the Olympics should be treated in this way and we stand with Dr Gunn and Anna Meares at this time.
“It is important that the community knows the facts and that people do not form opinions based on malicious untruths and misinformation.”
According to the AOC, the Australian qualifying competitions were judged by a panel selected by the World DanceSport Federation and comprised of “nine independent international judges.”
This debunked an online claim that Gunn’s partner, Samuel Free, was involved in the judging process.
The AOC’s statement strongly refuted 12 untruths about “Raygun” (pictured), including that she only deserved Olympic selection because her husband was one of the judges at the qualifying event she won.
“Dr Rachael Gunn was rightfully nominated by DanceSport Australia for the AOC for selection in the Australian Olympic Team when she won the Oceania Breaking Championship in October 2023,” the statement read.
‘Dr Rachael Gunn has no position with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia in any capacity. She is simply an athlete who competed in the qualifying event which she won. There have been no appeals filed by any athlete.
‘Mr Samuel Free is a coach who is in no way affiliated with AUSBreaking or DanceSport Australia and was not a judge at the qualifying event.’
The AOC also denied false claims that taxpayers’ money was used to fund the travel of Australian participants to the Olympic Games.
“No federal taxpayer money was requested or provided for the Paris Olympic teams’ campaign,” the report said.
‘The $25 million cost of the team was paid entirely by the Australian Olympic Committee.’
Gunn and her husband did not return home with the rest of the Australian team on Wednesday because of all the commotion.