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

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Paris brought the curtain down on an incredible Olympic Games with an awe-inspiring closing ceremony at the Stade de France on Sunday.

But fans felt the French finale was missing an Aussie touch, by the name of viral breakdancing star Rachael Gunn. 

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


Gunn has since been a target of criticism for not only her performance but her appearance, online and in some mainstream media.

She hopped like a kangaroo, resembled a T-Rex at times and rolled around the floor in a disjointed way that confused and amused Aussies back home watching the sport for the first time.

But seemingly fans on social media wanted to see more of the Aussie sensation on Sunday, with the cordial ceremony missing her exuberant dancing spirit.

'They should have Raygun breaking right in the middle of the closing ceremony,' one fan said. 

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

Fans all agreed one person should have performed at the Olympics closing ceremony

Fans all agreed one person should have performed at the Olympics closing ceremony 

Raygun went viral over the weekend for her memorable performance in women's breaking

Raygun went viral over the weekend for her memorable performance in women's breaking

A third fan quipped: 'Where is Raygun... the best athlete? I hope they ask her to do more breakdancing for her fans.' 

Another simply asked: 'Where's Raygun?'

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

Australia's chef de mission Anna Meares launched a staunch defence of Gunn, saying she should be applauded for her courage, rather than pilloried for her performance at the Paris Games.

'In 2008, she was locked in a room crying, being involved in a male-dominated sport as the only woman,' Meares said.

'And it took great courage for her to continue on and fight for her opportunity to participate in a sport that she loved.

'That got her to winning the Olympic qualifying event to be here in Paris.

'She is the best breakdancer female that we have for Australia.'

Meares likened the criticism to historic misogynistic abuse directed at female athletes as they fought for recognition in the sporting world.

'Now you look at the history of what we have had as women athletes, have faced in terms of criticism, belittlement, judgement, and simple comments like 'they shouldn't be there',' she said

'One-hundred years ago, leading into Paris 1924, Australia sent a team of 37 athletes - none were women.

'One-hundred years later, we have 256 women representing here.'

Fellow breaker, Samson Smith of Justice Crew, expressed his sympathy for Raygun.

'I've seen her battle, I've seen her win and I've seen her lose. Watching her at the Olympics... that's just her,' he said on The Project. ;That's her style, she wins and she loses. She lost all points, which is totally fine for us. We go into a battle, we win, we lose, that's it.' 

Reflecting on the backlash, Smith said:  'To see her go like viral, and it's still viral, the way everybody is still talking about her... and it is a big disappointment because they are not talking about the winners. 

'They're not talking about the gold medallists, the silver medallists, the bronze... they are all talking about Raygun's memes and they have not even seen her full set. 

'They are just watching her memes and they are judging off those slow-downed moves, the sprinkler which is just her character.

'That is just personality, that is her character, and the general public is just laughing about it. The memes everybody is coming up with is crazy. 

'At the end of the day she is a human being coming out to show their creativity.'

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