Panelists on The Project have leapt to the defence of an Aussie breakdancer who has made headlines for the wrong reasons at Olympics.
Sydney university lecturer Rachael Gunn, 36, aka Raygun, failed to score a point in any of her three bouts when breaking made its debut as an Olympic sport in Paris on Friday.
Gunn has since been a target of criticism by armchair critics and keyboard warriors for not only her performance but her appearance on social media and in some mainstream media.
The backlash has since prompted Australian Olympic Chef de mission Anna Meares and later Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to voice their support for Raygun.
The Raygun controversy continues to dominate headlines, overshadowing Australia’s best ever result at the Olympics finish fourth on the medal tally with more than 50 medals, including 18 gold.
The Project host Sarah Harris and panellist Rachel Corbett were disappointed that the backlash overshadowed Australia’s ‘amazing’ Olympics as they commended Gunn for going out there and having a ‘crack’, seven weeks after the first time Olympian appeared on the program.
‘All anybody is talking about is Raygun and can I just say right now, I am so rooting for this woman,’ Corbett said on Sunday night’s program.
‘Like, you think she was not qualified to be there. She didn’t get pulled in off the street- she had to win a championship to get there.’
Aussie breakdancer Rachael Gunn, 36, aka Raygun, has dominated headlines and copped online backlash for her Olympic debut
The Project hosts Hamish Macdonald and Sarah Harris weighed into the Raygun controversy on Sunday night
‘She got zeros, ok- she delivered a bad score, but she went out there and gave it a real nudge.
‘She looked like she was absolutely loving herself sick.
‘It would really suck to then come off that international stage and then have people sitting at home in their lounge room, not in an Olympic uniform, PS, going, ‘Oh, what a moron!’
‘She went out there and gave it a crack!’
Fellow panellist Sarah Harris also praised Raygun for being proud to wear her Olympic uniform, which Corbett admitted ‘gave off PE teacher vibes’.
‘Other people were wearing baggy jeans and cool shoes,’ Harris argued.
‘It is not her fault that they designed a golf uniform.
‘She didn’t design it. She just went out there and tried to dance in it.’
The Project panelist Rachel Corbett (pictured) commended Raygun for ‘having a crack’
Hamish Macdonald questioned whether the saga had been blown way out of proportion.
‘You reckon?’ Corbett replied sarcastically.
Macdonald agreed: ‘There was vision of a reporter chasing her down the street like she had just come out of court.’
Harris admitted that Raygun’s kangaroo hop moves were ‘sort of weird’.
‘That was iconic,’ Corbett said.
Michael Hing quipped: ‘It’s going to be our new Nutbush.’
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Albanese also commended Gunn for going out there and having a go.
‘Good on her and a big shout out to her. That is in the Australian tradition of people having a go. She’s had a go representing our country and that’s a good thing,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘The Olympics is about people participating in sport,’ the Prime Minister said.
The Project panelists also praised the breakdancer for proudly wearing the Australian uniform, ‘which gave off PE teacher vibes’
‘That’s a good thing and Raygun had a crack.
‘Whether (athletes have) won gold medals or just done their best, that is all we ask for. It’s the participating that is really important.’
Six-time Australian Olympic cycling medallist and Chef de Mission Anna Meares also defended Raygun, stressing that the breakdancer had fought her way into the sport.
‘Raygun is an absolutely loved member of this Olympic team,’ Ms Meares said.
‘She has represented the Olympic team, the Olympic spirit, with great enthusiasm.
‘And I absolutely love her courage. I love her character and I feel very disappointed for her, that she has come under the attack that she has.’
‘In 2008, she was locked in a room crying, being involved in a male-dominated sport as the only woman,’ Meares said.
