Olympic Games closing ceremony: People are all calling for the same thing after Raygun’s memorable performance in Paris

Paris closed the curtain on the incredible Olympic Games on Sunday with an impressive closing ceremony at the Stade de France.

However, fans felt the French final lacked an Australian touch, namely that of viral breakdance star Rachael Gunn.

Gunn, better known as Raygun, failed to score a single point when breaking made its Olympic debut on Friday in Paris.

Since then, Gunn has been the target of not only criticism, but also criticism of her performance, online and in some mainstream media.

She hopped like a kangaroo, at times resembled a T-Rex and rolled across the floor in an incoherent manner that both confused and entertained Australians watching the sport for the first time.

But apparently fans on social media wanted to see more of the Australian sensation on Sunday, as her exuberant dancing spirit was absent during the heartfelt ceremony.

“They should have had Raygun break in the middle of the closing ceremony,” one fan said.

Another said: ‘We need Raygun to perform at the closing ceremony.’

Raygun went viral this past weekend for her memorable performance in the women’s competition

A third fan joked: ‘Where is Raygun… the best athlete? I hope they ask her to breakdance more for her fans.’

Another simply asked, “Where’s Raygun?”

Raygun was not seen with the Australian contingent at the closing ceremony, where gold medallists Kaylee McKeown and Matt Wearn were honoured as flag bearers for the Aussies.

Anna Meares, the Australian chef de mission, fiercely defended Gunn, saying she should be commended for her courage, rather than pilloried for her performance at the Paris Olympics.

“In 2008 she was locked in a room and cried because she was the only woman in a male-dominated sport,” Meares said.

‘And it took a lot of courage for her to keep going and fight for her chance to participate in a sport she loved.

‘That’s why she won the Olympic qualifying event to be here in Paris.

“She’s the best female breakdancer we have in Australia.”

Meares compared the criticism to the historical misogynistic insults directed at female athletes as they struggle for recognition in the sporting world.

“Now look at the history of what we as female athletes have experienced in terms of criticism, belittling, condemnation and simple comments like ‘they shouldn’t have been there,’” she said

A hundred years ago, in the run-up to Paris 1924, Australia sent a team of 37 athletes – not a single woman.

‘A hundred years later, we have 256 women represented here.’

Fellow Justice Crew breaker Samson Smith expressed his condolences to Raygun.

“I’ve seen her fight, I’ve seen her win, I’ve seen her lose. Seeing her play in the Olympics… that’s just her,” he said on The Project. “That’s her style, she wins and she loses. She lost all the points, which is perfectly fine with us. We fight, we win, we lose, that’s it.”

Smith reflected on the negative reactions, saying, “The fact that she went so viral, and the way she’s still going viral, the way everyone’s still talking about her… it’s a huge disappointment because they’re not talking about the winners.

‘They’re not talking about the gold medal winners, the silver medal winners, the bronze medal winners… they’re all talking about Raygun’s memes and they haven’t even seen her whole set yet.

‘They just look at her memes and judge her based on her slow movements and the sprinkler, which just fits her character.

‘That’s just her personality, that’s her character, and the general public laughs at it. The memes that everyone comes up with are crazy.

“At the end of the day, she’s just a human being who wants to show her creativity.”