The breaking community wants the world to give Rachael Gunn - otherwise known as Raygun - a break as the Paris Olympics wrapped up.
The sport made its Olympic debut in Paris - it might never be back - and one of the lasting images was the performance of Australian breakdancer Raygun, who did a “kangaroo dance” and scored zero points.
She lost all three of her round-robin battles by a combined score of 54-0, prompting a hostile response to her performance and appearance online and in some mainstream media.
But in a show of support on Sunday, the head judge of the breaking competition said 36-year-old university professor Gunn was just trying to be original.
And the breaking federation say they have offered mental health support in the wake of online criticism.
“Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table and representing your country or region,” head judge Martin Gilian - known as MGbility - said at a press conference.
“This is exactly what Raygun was doing. She got inspired by her surroundings, which in this case, for example, was a kangaroo.”
The breaking and hip-hop communities “definitely stand behind her,” he added.
“We have five criteria in the competitive judging system and just her level was maybe not as high as the other competitors," MGbility said.
“But again, that doesn’t mean that she did really bad. She did her best. She won the Oceania qualifier. ... Unfortunately for her, the other b-girls were better.”
Sergey Nifontov, general secretary of the World DanceSport Federation, said they had been in direct contact with Gunn and Australian Olympic team officials
“We offered (the) support of our safe-guarding officer. 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,” he said. “She has us as a federation supporting her.”
Australia's Chef de mission Anna Meares had already mounted a strong defence of Gunn.
Breaking, known to many as break dancing, a term its performers dislike, is not on the program for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The next Summer Games after that will be in Brisbane, Australia.
“We believe that this has nothing to do with our chances for Brisbane 2032,” Nifontov said when asked about the criticism of Raygun and getting back into the Olympics.
