Australia’s Raygun Olympic saga simmers over demand for answers from the top

Lest we forget, Australia’s male entry J Attack or Jeff Dunne was on form but didn’t rack up as many memes — the tabloid measure of fame — as Raygun.

The biggest Raygun controversy involved a now-removed online petition that claimed her entry into the Olympics was a set-up. Before it was withdrawn, the petition received more signatures than others on the same platform calling for visas for refugees or harsher sentencing for sexual offenders.

But since the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) shot off a stern note last week telling haters to zip it, most of the bullying comments have ceased. But the nattering about Raygun at street corners and dinner parties has not.

At the mention of Raygun, the floodgates opened for some football aficionados I spoke to at a Sydney pizza shop.

Their analysis of how Australia’s football teams have had to endure multiple rounds of qualification to get to the Olympics and other competitions would put seasoned commentators to shame.

Facing esteemed teams from South America to Asia, Australia’s football players didn’t have it easy. Yet Raygun did, they said. It didn’t make sense.

To the uninitiated, Australia is obsessed with sports. It’s national pride. It’s the centrepiece of the working week. Running at lunchtime? Standard.

It’s not Raygun that bothered people. It’s the gatekeepers, institutions and sports experts tasked with safeguarding Australia’s sporting reputation that did.

The masses did not have a problem with Raygun – she properly qualified and did what she knew.

They had a problem with a lack of accountability.

Surely, someone from Australia’s Olympic-audit-department-of-world-standards would have been checking on Raygun’s routine and saying: “Hmm, love, it’s not quite up to the global