Topics: Sport, Olympics, Australia, News, World News
Thousands of people have signed a petition that brutally criticised the Australian breakdancer after her Olympic performance failed to go down well.
At this point there is no way you haven’t heard of the ongoing backlash breakdancer Raygun, real name Rachael Gunn, has received since her less than ideal performance at the Paris Olympics.
But for a brief recap, the Australian athlete went viral on social media as viewers were left unimpressed with her performance.
In addition to this, the judges weren’t that blown away either, as she was unable to score a single point in her event.
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But while many have taken the moment to simply make some jokes and memes, others have taken it much further and argued it is a significantly more severe situation.
Indeed, one person decided to launch a whole Change.org petition. The petition has since been taken down from the website.
The petition boldly claimed the b-girl should be held ‘accountable’ for her performance and questioned the validity and the honesty of her being selected to represent the country.
The petition even went as far as to wildly claim that Gunn manipulated the selection process to her own advantage.
The petition was able to attract over 45,000 signatures before it was taken down. The petition was flagged for misinformation, reviewed and removed from the platform.
However as the petition began to gain traction on social media, other people began to take notice.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) dismissed the petition and issued a statement condemning it and the claims made.
AOC’s Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll said the petition was ‘vexatious, misleading and bullying’
He also added that the petition ‘contains numerous falsehoods designed to engender hatred against an athlete who was selected in the Australian Olympic Team through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process.’
Gunn has also issued a statement this week about the impact the negative backlash has had on her over the past few weeks.
In a video posted on Instagram August 15, she said: "I really appreciate the positivity and I'm glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives, that's what I hoped.
"I didn't realize that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating."
She also went to speak about the 'misinformation' surrounding her inclusion in the Australian team, adding that people should 'refer to the recent statement provided by the AOC, as well as the posts on the Oz Breaking Instagram page as well as the WDSF Breaking for Gold page'.
Change.org said in a statement that it 'maintains strict guidelines against content that constitutes harassment, bullying, or spreading false information'.
It went on: "We take such matters seriously and remove any content that violates these standards to protect our users and uphold the integrity of our community."
