okr said:
Of course he apologized, what else could he do after such an offensive and ridiculous comparison? Na, I see this all a bit differently. Lavellenie is basically the current Bubka, the gold medal was already booked, the most dangerous contenders were basically already out when Lavellenie started the competition, and then he lost to a young contender who broke the Brazilian/South-American/Olympic record in this competition, something no one would have imagined. The defeat shocked Lavellenie. I have nothing against Lavellenie but I have a feeling he blames his defeat solely on the Brazilian fans and with that he can handily ignore the fact that da Silva beat him in an impressive fashion. Not only the fans made him nervous but also (and I think even more) da Silva's excellent performance. Others can handle the pressure (like the German womens team in beach volleyball semi final today against an - afaik - equally strong Brazilian team or the Swedish womens football team today against Marta), Lavellenie couldn't. Let's not forget: The two examples from womens sport also show that there's a lot of pressure on the Brazilian participants. |
Regardless of the situation there have been a few instances where the fans at the games have booed opposition just because they are competiting against a Brazilian. That isn't the spirit of the games. Lavellenie might be great at his sport but he didn't have the Olympic record, Da Silva (new to the sport outside of youth tournaments), encouraged by fans, went for it and got it. Bravo, cheer for him. Don't boo (singling out) someone else because they are the closest thing for your guy not to win.
Hmm, pie.
