At the Olympics, fans can get a little carried away when they're excited. Everyone loves to show some pride in their country!
Usually, when this happens it comes in the form of excessive cheering, drinking a bit too heavily, and then celebrating all night long after their country or favorite athlete has successfully won a medal.
The most sought-after medal is obviously the gold, but when Brazil's Thiago Braz da Silva won the gold for pole vaulting, the Brazilian fans celebrated in a fashion that has left many people with a bad taste in their mouth.
Rather than just cheering for Thiago and being proud of the fact that his medal was the third medal won for Brazil at that time, they took a nasty turn.
When French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie took the medal stand to receive his silver medal, the Brazilian fans began to boo excessively. Renaud could not contain his emotions.
Renaud is a world record-holding pole vaulter, having set the record in 2014. He won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
When Brazil's favorite beat Renaud to the gold, Brazil's reaction shocked everyone.
Instead of politely clapping when Renaud got his silver medal, the crowd jeered and booed at him.
In that moment, facing such an aggressive and disheartening experience, Renaud broke down in tears on the medal stand.
It was a devastating moment to see, as it was a cause for celebration to win such an award after years of practice. The memory is now marred by this hateful act.
Renaud was so affected by the open hostility from Brazilian fans, he was quick to make a comparison that many felt was too far.
“In 1936 the crowd was against Jesse Owens,” he said. “We’ve not seen this since. We have to deal with it.”
He compared his own emotions to how Jesse Owens must have felt when faced with the Nazi Germany crowd at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Renaud was quick to apologize for this offense on Twitter.
The president of the International Olympic Committee backed Renaud up, not based on his comments but over the fact that he believed this kind of behavior at the Olympics is extremely inappropriate. Thomas Bach condemned this behavior and called for action.
What are your thoughts on how a host country should behave at the Olympics?
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