Where do you stand on the Raygun break dancing fanfare?
For or against her inclusion in the games and performance.
Raygun - Legend or Letdown?
mr fox on 12/08/2024 - 11:33
Poll Options
- 205Fantastic, what a legend
- 1013Self indulgent, disappointing
Comments
I'd say she failed her mission successfully. She stole the spotlight from the winners since that's all everyone wants to see to have a good laugh. Shame YouTube is taking down all the footage so it's hard to find the match.
It's hard to find any Olympic-copyrighted videos, not only breakdancing.
waste of time and a massive joke. self indulgent garbage.
Where's the embarrassing talentless clown option?
I feel sorry for the Japanese b-girl who won gold with a real display of talent and athleticism, only to be overshadowed by this complete talentless clown. Breakdancing will now never be held at the olympics again thanks to this woke loser. The academia ponzi scam in Australia needs to be burnt down to the ground. Nothing of value would be lost.
Regardless of how you view her. How many of you actually knew that break dancing was in the Olympics? Probably fair enough its the first and last time it is in it.
Embarrassing but it an Eddie the Eagle moment.
Eagle or Eel ?
I am glad she had a crack, it is awesome to have a go at things so I am not against that, however, the Olympic Committee / selectors did her major dirty, that was absolutely shocking, not break dancing at all (just look at the other competitors that medalled or did well). Ridiculous to send her to that comp.
On the plus side, she is probably going to get heaps of insta followers and support now and just live off being an influencer/making stupid videos, so could be set for life?
Look, I don't think it was by any means, a winning performance, but let's all give her a break and let her get her mental health together.
Enough throwing stones.
She is obviously dealing with a lot right now. Some compassion goes a long way and makes us better people also.
Much worse things going on in the world right now.I remember the guy who ran flat out into the pommel horse years ago , nothing else comes close in the world of sports that I can remember .
Maybe some hurdlers who got tangled up after hitting every gate .Hard to look through all of the commentary on this and not lose some faith in humanity.
I'm not blind to her performance, but i also dont see the excessive online pile-on as reasonable or neccessary
This wasnt some person doing it on the streets or at some dance competition. This was someone who took avery rare and unique spot Australia had to offer, flew all the way there , and performed what she herself would have known was complete dung. If she has every seen anyone do breakdancing and i presume if she has a PHD in it then she would have in her research, then she knows what she did is not anywhere near the vicinity of what was standard and expected. Knowing all this she went to have fun? get her name and profile up there? Be able to say she is an olympic athlete and competed in the olympics? Whatever reason she has, its inexcusable.
"i presume if she has a PHD in it then she would have in her research"
Read other comments. She doesn't have a PhD in breaking if that even exists. Or even arts/dancing.
@Ramrunner: according to one of the articles i read, it said " 'Raygun's PhD thesis focused on 'the intersection of gender and Sydney's breaking culture' … her publications include:
The 'systems of relay' in doing cultural studies: experimenting with the 'Body without Organs' in b-girling practice
Nocturnal Paradox: How Breakdancing Reveals the Potentials of the Night
Where the #bgirls at? politics of (in)visibility in breaking culture@lonewolf: Correct - her thesis for her PhD in CULTURAL STUDIES in 2017.
That's just the thesis mate, her PhD was for cultural studies. Not for breaking, not for dancing.
She certainly put Aus on the map…in a bad way
I'm a Kiwi so should be laughing at this, but even I'm cringing on this one.
She will be in the next dancing with “star”.
This is who should have represented Australia
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-hzAsiMGUX/How can Anna Meares say Ray Gunn is the best B girl in Australia
Demi Sorono is heaps better
I have never been a huge fan of breakdancing. But I love the Rhythmic Gymnastics. Watching the finalists breakdance, I can see it being an Olympic sport and I appreciate it a lot more now.
But Raygun likely just set it back 5-10 years.
The IOC, WDSF and organisers of the Oceania Breaking Championship should be ashamed of themselves. The selection process could have been a great opportunity and program to reach out to disadvantaged youth across Australia and discover some proper talent.
So basically the two breakers we send are from the same dance troupe in sydney. Sounds like the net wasnt cast wide enough especially they had 3 years to figure this out.
Likely most people wouldn’t have even noticed that breaking had ever been a part of the program unless they were interested beforehand ,
whether or not this is something positive or negative for breaking who knows ,
it has raised the profile .And given birth to internet memes worldwide , so r-gunn will have to weather the storm and probably win out as a minor celebrity down the line .
I’m sure in a year or two we’ll all think it was funny .
I rank Rachel the Raygun right up there with Eddie the Eagle (1988) and Eric the Eel (2000).
I mean those guys are legends (perhaps for the wrong reasons)… I don't know why the two options are so polerised. Why can't you be in the middle "She was cringe af, take the piss for one day and move on"… sadly that's not the internet in 2024.
Eddie the Eagle and Eric the Eel would've been ruined if their mistakes had happened in the social media age, luckily it didn't and they're known as being hilarious/admirable.
more like RayBum
I don't think Raygun is a 4d chess genius but I think she is highlighting the disparity between codified sport and underground/grassroots sport.
On top of that, this Raygun discourse has also highlighted how every Olympic year, it is insufferable hearing casual opinions on sports people know nothing about, or worse, "I did this back in high school".
For people to think she is the best australia has to offer, is an insult to all the break dancing communities / groups i have seen around sydney. Even at the same university as where shes from, there are much better people / students than her at it.
Made a mockery of the selection process if she was the best Australia had to offer.
Ex-Ballroom Dancer who noticed that the Ballroom dancing association was in control of the breakdancing selection process.
I mean the system was there to be gamed and she made the most of it.
50% on her for getting this far with that ability.
50% on the Australian selection committee for allowing the Ballroom dancing association to select for breakdancing.
Expecting a movie to be made about her in a year.
The best thing for her is this gives her material to lecture on.
The worst thing for her is she has invested alot of resources into becoming a meme.Raygun is the Milli Vanilli of breaking.
I saw a video of her final qualifier for the Olympics, and the B-girl she was up against. So the top 2 basically. IMO, raygun was the worse of the two but not by a large margin. I think the reality is Australia just doesn't have high quality B-girls.
The guy rep we sent though was pretty good and he performed well in the video I saw of him at the Olympics.
I think the reality is Australia just doesn't have high quality B-girls.
ANy dancer in any other form of dance would have done a better job at breaking than her.
I guarantee 3 Gold from me when beer drinking, burping, n farting are included in Olympics
Well, she did deliver gold at the olympics… meme gold that is…
Throw another shrimp on the barbee..
Aussie is famous again !
I know she's come back trying to explain and justify why she did it, but seriously that was megga cringe.
That couldn't be the first time she did that routine, she's had to have fellow team members who would have seen that before the Olympic attempt.
Why didn't anyone give her some diplomatic feedback?
She was a troll, she wrote a thesis on the influence of various breakdancing techniques and made statements in the past that she wanted to do something completely different so from the get go she was taking the piss, but technically she was not a bad dancer.
I'm assuming the 'breakdancing community" is too busy shooting up drugs and just doing things locally that this chick miraculously was able to squeeze in a slot for her 3 minutes of fame and got exactly what she wanted.
Now let this women fade into obscurity.
It's been covered repeatedly in this thread how she managed to quality.
I'm assuming the 'breakdancing community" is too busy shooting up drugs
Wtf lol.
Disgraced this great nation of ours
In my opinion, having seen the routine myself this dancer reflects what most typical Australians celebrities behave when things don't go their way, they doubled down and blamed the world as to why the world couldn't see things their way.
It was a total embarassment and I don't understand why she think she would get away with it. Olympics are for serious athletes.
She should seriously reflect on how her behaviour now overshadowed what could be argued as the best Australian Olympic campaign ever with 18 Gold and topped best 5 in the world.
By the way, that breakdancing event won't return to future Olympics so she can further reflect on that.
The other concerning thing is this women has a Doctorate in "breaking" and is teaching at a University….essentially that summarises the state of our education system and the rubbish tip it is
The other concerning thing is this women has a Doctorate in "breaking" and is teaching at a University….essentially that summarises the state of our education system and the rubbish tip it is
After two days of detailed comments refuting this - there is no such thing as a doctorate in "breaking" - you still have to come up with this tired trope?
Sure, the whole thing was a farce, but at least get the basic facts straight. After they've been regurgitated ad nauseum on this very thread.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olymp…
her thesis was on break (dancing)
If your going to rage and say people are getting things wrong at least present some evidence or you better be 100% sure your information is correct
A thesis isn't the same as a doctorate. It's one part of a doctorate.
You didn't know this?
Also, did you know that quoting the Daily Mail is automatic minus points for credibility?
@rumblytangara: It isnt like those terms arent used interchangbly? Is someone does a thesis on investment stastics they might they they have a Doctorate in finance(title) or stastics (what they actually studied) neither statement is wrong
I know load of people that jave Doctorates and do this
@Trying2SaveABuck: You're quoting the Daily Mail as a source. I doubt that your circle is composted of people who hold doctorates.
@rumblytangara: The source quotes the name of her Doctorate? Are you saying they lied?
Perhaps you need to watch less Project and learn to read
Lmao
@Trying2SaveABuck: You keep quoting the Daily Mail as an authority… without realising it brands you as a simpleton. Relying on the Daily Mail is not a thing to be proud of.
Want to be taken seriously? At least read the thread, and stop quoting the most famously sensationalist media source in the world as evidence. Go one step lower and you'll be quoting 4Chan or Donald Trumps failed social network.
Her PhD was in Cultural Studies.
In what world do you live in that writing a thesis on a dance form = PhD in Cultural Studies?
That's like saying that writing a theses on Impressionist Art = PhD in Cultural Studies.
I think that your inability to reason or assess sources is comment enough on the state of our education system- no need to look as far as the Olympics.
@rumblytangara: You keep quoting? No one…. lmao i stoped reading after the 1st line people like you have been trained to ignore facts because it doesnt suit your agenda and dont have the very basic ability to read a source and assess the quality of information on hand and what the information is telling you
Have a good life I honestly don't have energy to argue with foolish people
@Trying2SaveABuck: OMG ENOUGH!
Direct from Macquarie University - the horses mouth - the institution that awarded her PhD:
https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/rachael-gunn
"She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies (2017) and a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Music (2009) from Macquarie University."
Man up and move on - you are WRONG.
@Trying2SaveABuck: Her PhD was in Cultural Studies and was awarded in 2017
Anything else you're sprouting, you really should stop because you're pushing a point your are simply wrong on.
Admit it and just move on you're starting to look very silly.
@coffeeinmyveins: Icing on the cake is that he's bemoaning the sorry state of the education system, when he's a primo example of what he's railing on about.
<chef's kiss>
@Ramrunner: It's in cultural studies but around Breaking as a topic as you can see from the Thesis title, a PHD is the 100% about the thesis, wtf did you think a PHD was? Like how delusional are you to act like you were right in this conversation?
All this information about her setting up a committee and controlling registrations to the qualifying competition.
What an absolute farce.Anna Meares is a joke for defending her and should stand down.
Not defending the Chef De Mission, but our Olympic campaign was arguably the best ever with 18 golds and topped best 5 in the world (was top 3 until the last day before Japan pipped us by 2 gold). Anna Meares can take credit for that. It is only unfortunate she decided to sour that glory by defending the indefensible but I understand why she needed to do that lest she will be isolated from her mates.
Anna Meares didn't do anything lol.
These athletes have been training for so many years to put themselves there.What did Anna Meares do exactly?
Probably nothing much but having to put up other people's embarassment is not a fancy job either.
She was effectively the leader of the Australian's Olympic campaign. She got all the shits other people done (like that dude who was caught buying cocaines).
Please provide that "information"
All I've been able to find are articles debunking all of that.
I'd like to see a proper article on how she cheated the system. Not the Daily Mail, not Reddit, not that Jaques guy on Facebook, a properly researched article please?
I want to see this dark side of the story but it all seems made up by gossipers.
I think her performance should be enough to give you a hint.
No hints. Facts please. Otherwise you're as bad at spreading rumours and misinformation as the others that have done so so far.
https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/no-rayguns-olympic-selectio…
All this information about her setting up a committee and controlling registrations to the qualifying competition.
You mean the BS that some shock jocks made up and wasn't close to true? Got it
I think what makes me laugh the most is that if you ask anyone overseas to name someone from the Australian olympic team, her name will come up before any of the medal winners (who most outside this country would never have heard of). If she plays this right, she could do quite well out of the chat show circuit etc.
I can't name a single dancer, of any dance style, living or dead. All I can think about is Raygun..
She gives me Jack Sparrow Vibes.
"You are without a doubt the worst Olympian I've ever heard of.
But you have heard of me."
Aye! Indeed I have but as the worst in history.
I imagine Jack Sparrow replying… That's good enough for me
Went hoping to do "Bradbury",
but just a paid-for trip to Paristhe fact she was awarded zero from the judges, means she has got the same score as if she didn't even attend, like of of us. These judges I assume are her peer group. It seems strange that she thought her routine would score a gold medal when she was scored as if she didn't even attend.
Watch this for some insight into Raygun and the breaking community in Aus.
Watching it now. Looks interesting so far. Thanks for the link!
I think she needs to be the headliner for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
She did Australia proud!
headliner for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
she would be ~44 years old then.
That could be a new age-group category.
She's a legend. She was the only breaker in Australia who cared enough to enter and win one of the required sanctioned competitions. She's now the official biggest meme of August 2024. She can probably spin millions out of this if she really wanted.
"She was the only breaker in Australia who cared enough to enter and win"
She did technically beat out 14 other competitors ironically.
I did find the entry page and requirements finally:
https://olympics.com/en/sport-events/2023-wdsf-breaking-olym…
Exactly. Now maybe there's dozens of better breakers that could have entered that competition, won, and go to the olympics. But none of them wanted to, or they didn't know. It's like that guy from some country that heard on the radio they were looking for swimmers, he was the only one who signed up even though he didn't know how to swim, he got a fisherman to teach him how to float in the water, and then at the olympics he swam the slowest laps by a large margin, just slowly flailing and moving through the water at a snails pace. The fisherman would have been better at swimming than him but apparently he was the only one who heard the call and took it up.
biggest meme of August 2024
which was the biggest meme of July 2024 ?
I was away, that month."Meme Of The Month" 2024 Calendars for Christmas presents…
2023 Calendar - https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/2709484-meme-of-the-month-ca…
Those old enough will remember 'Eddie the Eagle' and 'Eric the Eel' - fame through being soooooooo bad.
Well she's in their company and I don't recall either of them needing all and sundry to come to their defence. Perhaps if you're going to be so thin skinned about being laughed at, either be better at what you choose to do (radical idea I know) or perform in private - not on the world's largest sporting event thats beamed into hundreds of millions of homes.
She stank, but many others across the Olympic did too - she just looked more daft - harsh reality.
A lil insight and honesty with yourself would go a long way as if she watched back recordings of that performance and thought it was good, then it's a self inflicted injury. It's the Olympics not a school charity fun run where everyone gets a participation award just for showing up.
Haha how do 184+ people think she's 'fantastic & a legend' - ironically she'll probably get many advertising gigs out of it vs other more credentialed olympians that won't as they have no profile. She was abysmal but it's just a sport,don't take so seriously & put her up for a sainthood.
Eddie the eagle didn't get zero though.
Well she's in their company and I don't recall either of them needing all and sundry to come to their defence. Perhaps if you're going to be so thin skinned about being laughed at
The pile on I've seen is much more than being laughed at, it's full on character assassination
'If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
Far out seen a lot of kids did breakdance at darling harbour if the committee just made a visit over there I'm sure they would find a better representative for Australia, this is world wide how could they just settled with her..
You have to win a competition to qualify, or something like that. Those kids should have entered the competition Raygun did. I guess despite being worse at breaking than them, she was actually more interested in breaking, she took it more seriously.
No, it's because the good dancers aren't going to be part of the university that was holding the competition, nor had the means to travel to Sydney to enter.
It had nothing to do with how much they cared, she was just a privileged idiot who coasted through a highly flawed competition system.
Good call finding that emblurr. About time the misinformation stopped.
One competition , with a whole 15 people , one of which , there is a link to in an earlier comment , dances in that same “style” .
So she was neither original nor tested in any real sense by competition .
This whole fiasco was a result of a lack of organisation for the Olympic
trials .People who were trying to get ballroom dancing into the Olympic’s were left in charge of sending a couple of breakdancers to the Paris .
No wonder it was a disaster .
All true - I do NOT disagree with you at all. I also think she should not have been there and other breakers may have been better choices.
BUT
Was just getting sick of people spouting garbage as facts. She did follow the rules, she did qualify, her husband was NOT a judge, She does NOT have a PhD in breaking etc.
The selection criteria and organisation was not sufficient to get the best of Australia represented but THAT's not her fault.
As I keep saying blame the game, not the player. At least for the qualification and how she got there. Blame her all you like for her actual performance :)
@Ramrunner: They must have known that the selection process was essentially unfair and only open to a select few that knew about this final qualifying competition.
A 36year old woman is practically geriatric in the sport of breakdancing .
Her Only top rocking , which is generally the warming up and winding up for the ground game , is barely even breaking ,
From what I have seen she is at a beginner/intermediate level .You just know there’s heaps of indigenous kids out there who would have been far and away better representatives for the sport than some liberal academic .
I’m really trying not to pile on but I know how hard it is to do well and some people just had that amazing ability and some of us don’t .
Im not saying she can’t dance , but Olympic level ,
No Way , Not even close to a Best in the World let alone the best in Australia.
Ok it’s not her fault but it sure as hell is someone fault .Ok it’s not her fault but it sure as hell is someone fault .
It's her fault for cynically manipulating a broken system in order to get a free holiday. If her Husband is her "coach" like he claims he is, he would definitely have known about better dancers than his wife and been able to tell them about the competition.
@Charmoffensive: Funny I should have kept the links but there was one interview is saw with her husband where he was saying she was very artistic and sort of dances to the beat of her own drum, some other encouraging stuff, but he facial expression did kind of read to me sort of like "because technically she ain't that fantastic". But this is MY opinion on reading his body language not a factual statement.
I would absolutely be honest with my wife but you have to weigh it up also with being supportive. He probably loves her and doesn't want to get divorced and it's a fine line to tread.
No different to the spuds that are in the early audition phase of Australian Idol that we laugh at and think - wow, if only their friends and family had been honest with them…
She got a lot of people to take notice of the breaking, most of which probably wouldn't have even known it wasn't in the Olympics, so there's that.
🔫
if you check your Giphy lists, in your chat apps or MS-Teams,
she has now been immortalised in little snippets now.She's a marketing genius, look at all this talk she's getting and everyone knows her name now. If she was just another dancer no one would remember her. I bet everyone doesn't know the names of all of the other contestants
Unfortunately 99% of people are going to believe the narrative without fact checking. Social media has ruined people's critical thinking.