You can take it as feel good story of someone who is trying their best.
You can also take it as someone disrespecting an entire culture on a global stage. Breaking was already met with skepticism when it was announced that it would be apart of the Olympics. Most people were asking themselves is this really a sport? But with it being added to the Olympics came the chance of actually solidifying the public stance that this is a skill that requires nificant effort and athletic capabilities. Vast majority of regular people still think dance is just a silly thing that requires nothing but a bit of practice. This could’ve been a gateway to establishing breaking and all other dance styles require the same amount of effort, skill, time, physical capability of other sports and should be treated as such. But instead of praising the bboys for showcasing impressive athletic ability and introducing more people to the culture or helping the other bgirls show to world that this shouldn’t be a male dominated field, she just helped proved that breaking was just something France wanted to be quirky with.
“Everybody is talking about breaking because of Raygun!” No everyone is making fun of it and diminishing the achievements of the winners of the competition. The focus is solely on the joke of a performance she gave rather than giving any acknowledgment to the other competitors who have sunk almost their entire lives to developing and honing their skills and elevating the culture.
If an Olympic swimmer ended with a time almost double the time of the next placer and was doggy paddling the whole, then said “well I’m here for the experience” we wouldn’t be praising her for being courageous and trying no we would be saying we can’t believe she beat someone else out only to perform like this. The other swimmers might appreciate an easier win but also disrespects the time and effort put in to get to this place. If you spent years of training to compete in one of the largest stages in the world only to win by essentially default, would you feel like this was medal well earned?
Or take Hiro10 who even despite knowing he was going to lose decided he would put his all into his last set and gave us a phenomenal final set should be on the same stage as her? I was truly emotional watching him leave the competition because you can tell his heart and soul was into his style, that there were years practice and experimentation that finally earned him a way to this place. And Raygun is supposed to be someone that can compare.
For someone who supposedly studied and respects the culture, she’s genuinely done a disservice to breaking. It was long shot that breaking or any other dance form may stay long term in the Olympics but Raygun guarantees we won’t see it again. This was an actual chance for people to what depth breaking has and go beyond what is in movies.
This is a meaningless rant but as someone who made this their life actively for 7 years and passively for 4 I’m disappointed that this is how the culture gets shown to the world.
I’m guessing you are too young to remember Eric the Eel.
This is the exact scenario you described - he swam the 100m in 1:52, 50 seconds slower than the next slowest swimmer and over a minute outside of semifinal qualification. His time wouldn’t even have qualified him for the 200m semifinals.
He was praised for his courage and became a cult hero.
Came here to remind OP of Eric The Eel too : )
That was really interesting, thank you so much for sharing.
But swimming was a well established sport long long before Erick. OP point is that Raygun help to kill the sport as an Olympic event. Let’s be honest, break become a meme for most of us whom don’t have a clue about the sport.
She did no such thing. The lack of organization and letting ballroom dancing org coop the Olympic qualifying organization killed break dancing in the Olympics.
It was never gonna be in LA 2028 anyway.
Ok stop spreading lies, breaking was already confirmed to not be continuing long before the event, LA had already made it publically known they weren’t keeping it
I didn’t spread shit, I was just clarifying what OP was saying.
difference being it wasnt the first time showing for swimming at the olympics and we are in the age of clout chasing so through the eyes its difficult to assume someone as earnest. id say the best thing to come from this debacle is her rightly being slammed for it and that there seems to be a conversation had about the validity of the sport and the respect for the skill and dedication needed. conversation we would likely not have had had she not done what she did… oh shit
I did actually completely forget about Eric but forgive me if I’m incorrect but Australia is not a developing country. Australia is not a country that the entirety of the country lacks resources for people to learn about breaking. (Granted after that performance I am rethinking that statement)
All of the other Olympians who you are thinking were underdogs with poorer athletic performance have a backstory of a poorer nation, virtually zero infrastructure for the sport itself, or are literally refugees. Granted I believe there were a few that were sent due to nepotism (thinking of a runner that was a prime ministers or somethings niece I think) but for the vast majority of these people this is the actual best these people could do.
My complaint is she is a supposed expert in breaking a Bgirl with a PhD on the culture. She wasn’t breaking barriers by acting goofy and stating she was just there to have fun and experience the Olympics. All of the other people there, all of the athletes who have also performed terribly, Eric the Eel all tried their absolute best. Raygun did not.
I mean she’s a 30 something year old mom that probably is her best. What it might not be is Australia’s best
Eddie the Eagle? 🤔
Please don’t compare a guy that never saw a 50m pool before from a dirt poor country who literally did his best to some super entitled arrogant lady from a rich country who thinks she knows best.
Raygun just landed a big turd and now is blaming everyone like “you don’t understand me and my art”
Where did I compare the two? I didn’t mention Raygun at all in my comment.