It’s still not as athletically impressive as the others I saw, but much more than I was led to believe from the clips making fun of her.
There were a few moments where it looked like she actually had breakdancing experience compared to the “highlights” I’ve been seeing. Still, she looked goofy af.
It felt like a modern interpretive dancer was given a printed brochure about breakdancing an hour before the show and told to ‘wing it’.
She’s got strength, balance, timing, and control, but it’s like… she’s Eileen Dancing it?! Like she’d kind of have to do that on purpose if she’s ever even once seen a breakdancing video.
Honestly, her performance was amazingly memorable. I can’t remember the other routines the others did that’s for sure.
Was there?
There was/is but its about licensing rather than Raygun’s performance Source
It’s sad how much hate she’s getting for this :(
Nah, some of the background on this I saw had her husband being on the selection committee and forcing the committee to choose her.
(Rumors that Raygun’s husband was on the Olympic breaking selection committee have ultimately been dispelled by the Australian Breaking Committee, and historically, Raygun ranked first or second on Australia’s list of nationally-ranked B-girls from 2020 to 2023. The official Olympics site also has a detailed description of the rigorous process of qualifying to compete in the sport at the Olympics.)
From the link in @Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.world ’s comment on this post
Ugh, that sucks.
I saw an interview with her yesterday where she said she gave it her best after a lot of work and was pretty upset about all the hate.
I guess I need to do some more research!
E: seems like she won some awards and was pretty good in her neck of the woods
Odd that they interviewed a breakdancer/breakdancing-teacher and then apparently just some random African American who happened to be within arms reach? That’s the only qualifications they give him. “Malik Dixon is an African American who has been living in Australia for more than a decade and is a Sydney University graduate.”
Did they really call an Australian an African American
I don’t. A lot of people make a huge mental, physical and economical effort to be there and she just thinks it’s playtime? She didn’t make fool of only herself but of all the professional that fought for break to be in the olympics. She an idiot
I mean, I get what you’re going at, but she does hold a PhD in cultural studies, and she did put in a lot of effort to get in. It’s very possible, too, that, in an arena so different than what she’s used to, she choked. A lot of the hate goes above and beyond with death threats and claims she should kill herself, and nobody deserves that.
For how goofy it was, and the memes that have come from it, she’s earned my respect and thanks for bringing a little, albeit unintentional, joy to my life.
look i get it, but i coul get a PHD in other sport, lets say soccer, and lnow everything about it but also know I am not good enough to play. Academics and Olympics are different. Can you imagine being a serious and talented Australian break dancer and having to watch that?! Death treats are ridiculous and as a normal person of couse I don’t think that’s right. But I think she did know she wasn’t good enough but wanted to go for the novelty regardless of other athletes that were better.
She knew what she was doing and did it anyway and that’s a shitty move from a shitty person
sorry for the typos im in a moving train in my phone lol
She beat those other break dancers at comps to get nominated. She didn’t get selected out of no where.
You right, her husband was in the selection pannel. Not out of no where
He should have recused himself from judging a comp his wife was in but there is no definitive proof he displayed favouritism.
She failed to score when she actually tried, and you can see the difference in those attempts, and then did something completely different that we’re talking about.
Honestly her performance and the French pole vaulter’s… pole are the only things notable about this years Olympics.
She would have known what the impact would’ve been, she literally studied the sport. She must have seen many female Australian breakers who were leagues above her in terms of skill. Yet she thought she was worthy to represent her country, hate is a strong word, but she and the org that put her there should be heavily criticised.
Where was that iconic kangaroo pose?
Second part of the battle I think.
Imho someone should have warned her…
I think she is someone who has been lied to. Like a girl who had never been told she cannot sing, and when she finally hits the talentshow, Simon Cowell has to break it to her. He’s a dick, but he’s not wrong.
And now a real, good breakdancer is missing out on this chance. We’re talking about the Olympics for crying out loud. Not some tournament with all sorts of people joining. She does not have the skill to compete with the breakdancing going on, clearly, compared to others in this competition.
If she doesn’t like the hate, then don’t seek this spotlight. It’s great to have a passion, yay you! It’s not okay to force the world to enjoy your passion. It’s that type of entitlement that gets people to support someone who clearly doesn’t have what it takes to join the Olympics.
For real, as I’m writing this I don’t get why people accept this. It’s not fair to people ACTUALLY being good at this.
End of rant. Cannot wait to see people get mad at me for not accepting her on that stage.
She was warned, and acknowledged it in an interview before the Olympics. But, she could go to the Olympics. Honestly, it’s kind of weirdly brave to knowingly go and embarrass yourself in front of a global audience. And it’s mostly harmless.
I mean it’s a mortal wound to breakdancing, Australia as a country, and the Olympics as an institution, all of which must necessarily be taken less seriously now. But other than that. 🤣
It’s weirdly an asshole move more like.
The olympics are not accessible to everyone, that’s the whole point. It’s the best in the world at everything, not cool runnings B-reel. I don’t understand why we have to have a war on prestige: some people are working hard to be good at things and they don’t need to share the stage with the everyman. This was walking into a fancy dinner that you KNOW is exclusive wearing jeans and a beater and spitting on the floor when they call your name. Fuck, have the self-awarenees to say “I am not an Olympic athlete” and leave it at that.
Which is all to say your second paragraph is exactly on point lol.
All joking aside, the Oceania board that made the decision, which she was not part of (there’s not a single Australian on it) said she earned her spot through the competition and based on the judges recommendation.
The fact is, Australia doesn’t have a big breaking scene, which is a statement from people in the community themselves. They had to bring people out of retirement just to have enough numbers. So, I guess if your country calls on you and says you’re one of the best we have, you either do it or you don’t.
In that sense, it is kind of like cool runnings. A country with an incredibly small pool of talent for a niche (and brand new) Olympic event didn’t have the time to manifest talent for these Olympic games and didn’t have enough already existent talent that met the qualifications imposed by the IOC and Oceania board. Honestly, it kind of is what it is.
It happens in other Olympic events too, it just doesn’t usually get this much publicity (and isn’t usually quite this silly; I just watched the kangaroo thing 🤣).
Honestly, she won the only real thing that matters: actual attention and fame. I couldn’t tell you who won the medals. But I’ll definitely remember her performance for years. She’s now famous, whether she wants to or not. I’d lean into that if I was her.
Ok now that I’ve finally seen it:
It’s funny af but she’s not as terrible as I was led to believe. I mean that’s not breakdancing but she’s at least got fitness, coordination, and balance, but she ISN’T DOING ANYTHING WITH IT!
Like a good dancer that has never heard of pop and lock but had it described to them by a drunk Danish couple.
