Breaking community rallies around Australian Olympian whose kangaroo hop failed to impress judges

The international breaking community has rallied around Australian Olympian Rachael Gunn after her zero-point, kangaroo-hopping performance was ridiculed online.

She may not be an Olympic champion, but Rachael Gunn definitely has her fans.

The Australian b-girl, also known as Raygun, emphasized originality as she took the breaking world stage at the sport’s Olympic debut in Paris on Friday, in a performance that included hopping like a kangaroo.

But the 36-year-old university lecturer’s unconventional performance was lost on the judges, who did not award her a single point in three battles against younger competitors from the United States, France and Lithuania.

Videos of her breaking went viral, drawing online ridicule and speculation as to whether the whole thing was a hoax. But Gunn was uncowed, re-enacting the kangaroo hop as she celebrated with fellow Australian Olympians ahead of the closing ceremony on Sunday.

“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves,” Gunn, who has a Ph.D. in cultural studies and studies breaking and hip hop culture, told reporters on Friday.