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.
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
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.
I think what the snooty professional athletes and organisers need to remember is that the general public don't really care who is the fastest woman to run 250m through mud while wearing a rucksack. You can dedicate your whole life that and for the majority of us it doesn't matter a jot.
But somebody falls on their face or nearly drowns in the pool, and people will see that because it's more newsworthy than "man jumps 1cm further than other man".
Eddie the Eagle. The Jamaican Bobsled team. Eric the Eel. These are the names that stick in the memory. We'll only remember winners if they win a ton of medals, like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps or Simone Biles.
Who even won the women's Breaking gold medal? I'd have to look it up if I wanted to know. But we know who Raygun is for better or worse. So who's the real winner here?
A Japanese woman, Ami maybe, won the gold. I really liked the Lithuanian kid who came in second, she was fun to watch. And I liked the girl from the Netherlands who came in 4th. Bronze went to China's 671, but her dancing struck me as a power performance more than an art or a form of play.
I didn't see Raygun till now because I only watched finals. Just didn't have the time to watch it all. Stupid music licencing rules causing things to disappear.
刘清漪, sounds similar to 671 if you say both in Chinese. Just in case anyone thought China was referring to their athletes by number.
The B girls went on by their own street names, 671 was the dancers chosen moniker. She was the first athlete to complete without an alphabetical name, I think I heard? The other Chinese dancer in finals went by a name.
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.
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.
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."
The wording sounds like he's a black man from America, aka an African American, who's now living in Australia. I have no idea though. There is a way it's not the wrong wording, but it also totally could be.
That's how I read it too. He is an American of African descent, living in Australia for ten years.
That's just your typical reverse racism. Hey, let's ask that black dude over there, they're all experts on breakdance, right Tanner?
Plus he might have something to do with sports, so he is an expert alright.
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.
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 🤣).
I had some time to chill out and I agree with you, by and large, but here's what gets me:
You can totally differentiate between someone who has excelled at a physical sport. It is apparent in posture, economy of motion, and honestly even pure physique. I did 10 years of competitive ballroom dance at least 10 years ago now, and I guarantee even I could have made a better show. That is not indended to be a humble brag: im pushing 40 and kids tore up my physical prowess lol. I CAN stand up and full space though, and move with my whole body in an intentional way. The selection pool, even if there is not a breaker scene, could have been widened to include people who wouldn't look ridiculous even with exactly the same routine. It's just totally wild lol.
It's probably the only time Breaking will be at the Olympics (already pulled from LA), and instead of the story being about the downright incredible athleticism and art being shown by the other competitors, people are remembering this.
LA passed on breaking before this whole thing, but Brisbane's got it in 2032 and they have the option to include it. It mostly sucks because this one bad performance overshadowed the 32 other competitors who put on great performances.
But embarrassing oneself is one thing, taking away chances from people that actually try really hard.... Kinda mean
Whatever I've spent enough time on her now. Time to live life again.
We're talking about the Olympics for crying out loud. Not some tournament with all sorts of people joining
Ironic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_sports#Olympics
Through most of the 20th century the Olympics allowed only amateur athletes to participate and this amateur code was strictly enforced - Jim Thorpe was stripped of track and field medals for having taken expense money for playing baseball in 1912.
Karate isn't in the Olympics because they can't agree on rules and by extension have one rule making body.
This is not representative of the rest of the event. The athleticism the real competitors were doing was incredible. It's closer to an improvised, artistic version of a gymnastics floor routine than this bullshit.
This is all I have seen of it. Being a cord cutter since the last Olympics, I'm not sure where to watch any of it.
Even then it's all been taken off Peacock. It's a shame because they were doing superhuman feats.
Knowing olympics, it'll be yet another sport where it's all men on men / women on women, separated by weight class.
This person undeservingly getting a spot on stage is not representative of the sport. But surely you wouldn't be commenting on the validity of a sport after seeing only one person do it because then you would be susceptible to being wildly misinformed
I wouldn't. Like many other sports, bboying (which I use because it a dumb AF moniker) is totally subjective for scoring, and as someone who has done a LOT of karate, gymnastics, and ballroom dance, it seems like all of those should have been included first.
It's not totally subjective, because they define a way to measure an athletes performance objectively. It's also a bit ironic because gymnastics could also be quite subjective too. Ultimately the judges and the athletes are aware of how everything is being scored, and the athletes plan their routines around how highly they can score on this rubric.
First because they are older sports. Maybe that is the problem though because karate and ballroom both have 2+ established, competing governing bodies.
Second because at least for sparring, karate is formulaic: put fist or foot here, score point.
Soon she’s going to reveal she’s a Borat/Andy Kaufman-esque comedian and we’ve all been pranked.
I mean, I get the love, but part of me feels bad knowing there were people in Australia with real skill that night have had a chance and she kinda robbed them. If I was a skilled break dancer in her country and saw that I don't think I would feel great about it.
The only thing I enjoyed about this sport was everybody skipping to the stage like they're one of the Railway Children on their way to collect a hamper from rich, land-owning Uncle Bertie.
They should have had parkour instead.
•
I'm so tired of hearing about this..
The thing is, at least she gave it a shot even if it was stupid and she sucks at it. She'll be the most popular person at the pub.I actually wish I had that opportunity even if the Internet laughed at me honestly
I guess the story is that she's actually really talented, but she decided she wasn't up to the level of the competition so she opted for a less technical, more expressive routine.
Or at least that's what my research turned up after watching that.
I'm not buying that. Her moves were slow and awkward, not "less technical." She had zero relationship with the music. She spent most of her time flopping like a fish. Slowly. I feel like she got lost while looking for the interpretive dance competition.
Wanna spread misinform real fast? Tell people she was a meme candidate chosen for her legendary super bowl performance as left shark. That's more believable than "she can actually breakdance."
I think the fact that she supposedly has a PhD in Breakdancing is the thing that is making this a story
Her PhD is in investigating the cultural/social context and implications of women in breakdancing. It's not PhD in performing breakdancing.
It's genuinely not. Her PhD is in the cultural politics of breakdancing. That's exactly what the other person said but less concise.
And I could have a PhD in Cinema but it doesn't mean I'll be a good director. That's not the point of the degree.
The problem as i see it is that there is definitely a female Breakdancer In Australia that is better. She just wanted a free vacation and pulled the right strings to get put on the team instead of someone with less connections and a better performance.
Like these girls in the bc one cypher in 2022 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aB3xIUFYH78&pp=ygURYXVzdHJhbGlhbiBiLWdpcmw%3D
I see someone who is passionate about something, trying her best, and having a good time doing it.
Good for her. The routine is goofy, but fuck yea. I'm glad she is out there doing what she loves.
Not when she's taking the place of someone else who is more competent at it on a world stage. 1:01 part was actually impressive though.
Trying your best and doing it right are 2 different things. It is time this butthurt world re-understands this. Someone should have told her she sucks at it. And yes, it would hurt her feelings but also opening up opportunities for her to pursue something else she will, undoubtedly, be better at.
She can still dance like this if she wants to with all the passion in her heart, but break dance competition, nope.
She spearheaded the selection for Australia‘s break dancers, excluded anyone who was better than her in the preliminaries, and then picked herself to go to the Olympics. Then once she got there, she realized she was going to get her ass handed to her by the competition, so she decided to be goofy instead of actually trying (and failing) to keep up.
She doesn’t deserve any praise.
Yes. Except, no. None of that is true.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/australian-breakdancer-raygun-olympics/
Why do we have to suck so much ass as a species? Why does a little anonymity or distance make us into such nasty little shit heads?
I mean, we've got people cyberbullying others simply for having the audacity to play a character that they don't like on television shows, and shit like this where they're doing it because some dancer was bad.
Why can't we just make a couple of pretty harmless jokes, have a fucking laugh, and move on?
I don't know, why aren't you doing that right now instead of trying to blow it up into some fundamental social problem? I guess there's your answer.
Yeah, you got it, it's actually me that's the problem 👍 ...not the people baking up conspiracy theories and cyberbullying a person because she was bad at something she did at the olympics.
That makes total sense: pointing at a problem causes that problem. /s
PS: My questions were rhetorical.
The snopes debunk is correct. However she was selected out of 15 people in the ENTIRE CONTINENT of Australia in an event that was not publicisized among breakdancing events. Was it rigged per se? No. Did she know what she was doing when many were excluded from the selection process? Yes
I looked for this video for over a week. For something so widely discussed it's crazy nobody could actually see it.
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.