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Australia Olympic chief slams online attack on breakdancer Raygun

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The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Thursday (Aug 15) condemned an online petition calling for an investigation into breakdancer Rachael Gunn's selection for the Paris Olympics, saying it contained falsehoods aimed at inciting hatred against her.Gunn, a 36-year-old Australian university lecturer known in breaking as B-Girl Raygun, was pilloried online and in mainstream media after she lost all three of her round robin battles by a combined score of 54-0.The petition on change.org, which calls for an apology from Gunn as well as Australia's Olympic chef de mission Anna Meares, had over 45,000 signatures by Thursday morning.Meares defended Gunn from trolling in a media conference last Saturday.In a statement, AOC Chief Executive Matt Carroll said the petition attacking Gunn was "vexatious, misleading and bullying"."The petition has stirred up public hatred without any factual basis," he said. "No athlete who has represented their country at the Olympic Games should be treated in this way and we are supporting Dr Gunn and Anna Meares at this time."The AOC has written to change.org demanding it take down the petition immediately, Carroll added.Carroll also said that Gunn was selected through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process."The AOC is particularly offended by the affront to our chef de mission, Anna Meares," he added."(She) played no role in the qualification events nor the nomination of athletes to the AOC Selection Committee, of which the Chef and I are members."

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It's been more than week since Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem pipped Neeraj Chopra of India to claim the men's javelin throw gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. Nadeem broke the Olympic record with a monstrous throw of 92.97m, and followed it up with another 91.79m throw in his final attempt. Defending champion Neeraj, on the other hand, could only manage 89.45m which saw him miss out on gold and had to settle for a silver. Meanwhile, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has compared the rivalry between Arshad and Neeraj to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Rachael Gunn, also known as B-Girl Raygun, spoke out Thursday after several whirlwind days of memes, accusations and conspiracy theories surrounding her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 
Rachael "Raygun" Gunn, an Australian woman breakdancer at Paris Olympics 2024, has become a subject of intense social media chatter over her performance at the Games. She was ridiculed on the internet for her unique Paris Olympics routine, triggering memes and jokes from fans all across the globe. Raygun's breaking performance, featuring one move compared to a kangaroo hopping, lost all three of her match-ups against rival dancers, or B-Girls. After receving a lot of backlash, Gunn has now hit back at her critics and asked the media to stop harassing her and her loved ones in a video she posted on social media.

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