Startling details emerge about 'flawed' system that saw Raygun qualify for Paris Olympics

With questions still lingering around how Raygun qualified for the Paris Olympics, fellow breakdancer Leah Clark has revealed the flaws in the system and technical loopholes that "locked out" many of the country's best B-girls from trying to make it. Raygun's performance in Paris sparked global ridicule, with many suggesting she embarrassed Australia after failing to score a single point in all three of her battles.

Conspiracy theories that Raygun (real name Rachael Gunn) rigged the qualification process have been disproven, but new details have come to light about how and why the selection pool was so shallow. According to Clark, who has been a B-girl on the Australian scene for 24 years, there was a number of major impediments that prevented breakers from entering qualifying.

Clark told The Guardian Australia on Wednesday that Raygun qualified fair and square, but suggested she wasn't competing against the best breakers the country has to offer. According to Clark, the Oceania qualifying event took place too soon after it was advertised, meaning some breakers didn't even know it was happening.

She also revealed that breakers wanting to take part in qualifying had to register with three different organisations just to try out, and they also had to have a valid international passport. That meant a number of breakers weren't willing or able to fork out the money to get a passport with no guarantee they'd be heading to Paris.

Questions asked about flawed qualification process for Olympics

Clark said the flawed system meant the qualifiers were poorly attended and: “There wasn’t even enough B-girls to [fill] the top 16." While there doesn't appear to be anything untoward about how Raygun qualified, questions should be asked about whether everyone in the country was given a fair chance.

Another breaker told The Guardian they didn't try and qualify because they didn't have Australian citizenship, only permanent residency. Clark also revealed there's only about "30 to 50" genuine B-girls in Australia and the sport is male dominated.

And of those 30-50 B-girls, some are copping the fallout from Raygun's performance. “It’s really affected us. We’ve got B-girls in tears about it,” Clark said. “How do I go to work now and try to get our sponsorship and get our grant money for breaking programs [for a sport] that’s just been made a mockery of? And how do we go and represent our country at other world level events when Australia’s been made a fool of? … This is actually affecting us on a much larger scale than just memes.”

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Jessica Fox throws arms around Raygun amid ugly backlash

Speaking on her return to Australia on Wednesday morning, canoeist Jessica Fox said she's been in contact with Raygun - and she's doing it tough. "To see the toll ... she is human and it is massive what she has been through over the last week. She has definitely been feeling it," Fox said. "There is a human behind all that, and people are so quick to be awful. She doesn't deserve that."

Also on Wednesday, leading commentator Andrew Voss questioned whether the Australian Olympic Team should have had anyone in the breakdancing competition in Paris if Raygun was the best option. “There are lots of sports where we are not represented, because we’re not at the level of the Olympics," Voss said on SEN radio. "How did this get through? It’s fine to say she was the best in the qualification, but if our best was hopeless, why did we send someone to compete in that discipline?”