Beaten Lavillenie fumes at jeering crowd

Renaud Lavillenie was left fuming at a jeering partisan crowd as Brazilian Thiago Braz da Silva snatched Olympic pole vault gold in a thrilling competition.

The Frenchman was the defending Olympic champion from London 2012, but saw da Silva snatch victory with an Olympic record of 6.03m.

But the vaulting, disrupted by heavy rain that delayed the start, was the scene of extended jeers and whistles from a local crowd that got increasingly behind Braz as it realized he was in with a medal chance.

Lavillenie said: "Better to stay at home in front of your television than come and whistle. At least then we'd have people in the stadium who want to watch sport.

"It really disturbed me. I felt the nastiness of the public and we do a sport where you never see that.

"I completely understand that the Brazilians are behind Thiago, that's totally normal. But what is not normal is the total lack of respect for the rivals. The least thing, if you don't like someone, is to ignore them, but not to insult them. Because I took that as an insult.

"It's horrible to see that at the Olympic Games."

Lavillenie said he had never experienced such treatment over his long career.

Rehearsing vaults on the run-up, he appeared on the stadium's big screens, to increased booing. Lavillenie greeted the jeers with a wagging finger and then a thumbs-down, to even more whistles.

"In all the competitions I've taken part in, even where the local athlete was going for something, the public has never ever whistled the athletes. It's incredible," he said.

" ... It's not football, it's the Olympic Games, which has an enormous sporting influence. It's not every year it happens, and I think the crowd spoiled the experience for a lot of pole vaulters tonight.

"It's the first time I've experienced this type of crowd. It's the first time they've been against not only me but all the other pole vaulters except the Brazilian guy.

"There is no respect, no fair play. It's the Olympics - if there's no respect in the Olympics, where can we get respect? I'm very, very sad and disappointed by the Brazilian public that was in the stadium."

He had misses at earlier heights, while world record holder Lavillenie was clean through 5.98m.

The Olympic record put the 22-year-old Brazilian in gold-medal position, but Lavillenie still had a chance to win. Lavillenie raised the bar to 6.08m for one final attempt and, as he prepared, the crowd started booing him. The Frenchman gave a thumbs-down signal to the crowd, went up for the last attempt, but failed.

(China Daily 08/17/2016 page4)