Anna Meares delivered a passionate defense of under-fire breaking competitor Rachael Gunn as Australia’s Chef de Mission praised the country’s most successful Olympic team at an emotional press conference on the penultimate day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Gunn, who competes under the name Raygun, faced heavy criticism online after she received no points from the judges in the women’s competition on Friday and was eliminated in the round-robin tournament.
The aspiring athlete hit back at the trolls and vowed to continue “doing my thing” before Meares attacked the “keyboard warriors” at a press conference on Saturday.
“I love Rachael,” Meares said. “I think what happened on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors and having those comments blown up was really disappointing.”
“She is the best (female breaking competitor) we have for Australia. When you look at the history of what we’ve had, what female athletes have had to endure in terms of criticism, belittling, judgement and simple comments like ‘they shouldn’t be there’.
“One hundred years ago, in the run-up to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, Australia sent a team of 37 athletes. None of them were women. One hundred years later, here we are with 256 women and Raygun is an absolutely beloved member of that Olympic team.
“She represented the Olympic team and the Olympic spirit with great enthusiasm. And I love her courage. I love her character and I’m very disappointed for her that she was attacked like that.”
Meares, herself a two-time Olympic track cycling champion, tearfully praised the Australian team’s outstanding performance at the Games, which won 18 gold, 16 silver and 14 bronze medals midway through Saturday. The performance in Paris surpasses Australia’s previous best Olympic performance, when the team won 17 gold medals in Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020.
“I told our teams when they were welcomed to the village that the pages of the Paris 2024 chapter were blank,” Meares said. “They were there to leave their mark, both from a personal and performance perspective. Those pages are almost complete. The mark this team will leave on those pages will show that they are the most successful Australian Olympic team of all time.”
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She added: “Congratulations. Well done. Bonne journée, au revoir, merci beaucoup.”
Meares represented Australia at four consecutive Olympic Games, from Athens 2004 to Rio 2016, winning medals at all four Games. Paris will be her first Olympic Games as head of the Australian delegation.
“The way they supported each other, in success and in failure,” she said. “The way they showed courage and played the great roles they played. They really inspired the next generation.”
“We always talked about the Cathy Freeman effect,” Meares continued, referring to the runner who won gold on home soil at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in one of the most iconic moments in Australian sporting history. “Now we have the Jess Fox effect, the Emma McKeon effect, the Ariarne Titmus effect, the Cameron McEvoy effect, the Saya Sakakibara effect, the Keegan Palmer effect, the Arisa Trew effect, the Stingers effect, the Opals effect, the Harry Garside effect. The sky really is the limit.”
The majority of the Australian team will travel home on a charter flight on Monday, landing first in Perth before continuing on to Sydney, where the team will be welcomed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, along with friends and families of the athletes.
Earlier on Saturday, Meares announced that swimmer Kaylee McKeown and sailor Matthew Wearn had been selected to carry the Australian flag at the closing ceremony on Sunday evening. They will be accompanied by around 300 Australian Olympians at the Stade de France.
“I’ve been wrestling with this decision all through the Games,” Meares said. “For me, Kaylee was the only one who could beat her. She’s the first woman, the first Australian Olympian, to win four individual gold medals. She’s won the 100m and the 200m (backstroke) back to back.”
Wearn, meanwhile, defended his gold medal from Tokyo by winning the men’s dinghy sailing class (Laser) – the first sailor to do so. “I think that speaks for itself,” said Meares, who added that she hopes Paris will not be her only stop as coach of the Australian Olympic team.
“I’m so proud,” she said. “Proud for them. Proud of them. And proud to be here with them.”
