The Australian sporting body that approved Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn’s doomed passage to the Olympic Games has defended its decision and called for an end to the ‘bullying’ of the breakdancer.

Gunn has been battered from pillar to post on social media since her disastrous Olympic debut on Saturday [AEST] where she failed to poll a single vote in the newly added sport of breaking.

Australian chef de mission Anna Meares defended Raygun by calling her the best breakdancer in the country on Sunday.

However plenty of Aussies questioned the qualification process and pointed to the recent Red Bull BC One 2024 World Final qualifier in Melbourne and the Aussie title won by talented young dancer Scarlett Frances, AKA B-Girl Scar.

Now AusBreaking, the governing body in Australia. has broken its silence and called for ‘peace, love and unity’.

‘On the global stage we witnessed the elite physical stamina, fluidity, precision and creativity that is required to be a breaker at the highest level,’ it said on Tuesday.

‘Let us focus and celebrate breaking as an Olympic sport and uphold the values of the Australian and global breaking community of peace, love and unity.’

AusBreaking defended its selection process in the statement and revealed the process all aspiring athletes, including Raygun, went through to try and get on the plane to Paris. 

‘The selection process for Australia’s breaking team heading to Paris was conducted over two days, and open to all interested participants in the Oceanic region,’ AusBreaking said.

‘Adhering to World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) regulations, which align with International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards, the process aimed to ensure a fair and transparent outcome.

‘A panel of nine international adjudicators, a head judge and a chairperson who oversaw the competition, using the same judging system at the Paris Games and trained to uphold the highest standards of impartiality.

‘These judges are all highly respected in their respective communities and in the international breaking scene.

‘Ultimately, Rachael Gunn and Jeff Dunne emerged as the top performers in exactly the same process, securing their spots to represent Australia in Paris. Their selection was based solely on their performance in their battles on that day.

Questions have been asked over how Gunn got to the Olympics where there appears to be better talent available in Australia

Australian chef de mission Anna Meares defended Raygun and called for the bullying to stop

Footage has since emerged of Aussie breakdancers like Scarlett Frances, AKA B-Girl Scar that would have likely beaten Raygun if they had competed against her

‘In the lead-up to Paris, Raygun used her platform as the Australian Breaking representative to consistently advocate in the media for breaking’s history, artistic and athletic values, and its cultural origins.

‘We condemn the global online harassment and bullying of Raygun. The pressure to perform on the Olympic stage is immense, especially against the opponents in her particular group. We stand in solidarity with Raygun.’

Fellow breaker and anthropologist Lucas Marie also who recently co-authored an article with Gunn, defended his fellow breaker as well.

‘She won those battles fair and square and won the qualification in Sydney,’ he told ABC.

‘And it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone.

‘She’s been fairly consistent, winning or coming second or third at a lot of breaking events in Australia for the last five to 10 years.’

And the World DanceSport Federation, the governing body of breaking at the Olympics, has also reached out to Raygun to offer support. 

‘We offered (the) support of our safe-guarding officer,’ WDSF general secretary Sergey Nifontov said.

‘We are aware about what has happened, especially on social media, and definitely we should put the safety of the athlete, in this case, mental safety in first place.

‘She has us as a federation supporting her.’