This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Brazilian fans are being asked to behave themselves after the French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie reacted furiously to the partisan treatment he received during Monday night’s tussle with Thiago Braz da Silva.

The 22-year-old Brazilian beat the defending champion in a thrilling contest but it was marred by large sections of the Olympic Stadium crowd booing Lavillenie’s attempts.

The hostile atmosphere clearly unsettled the Frenchman, who gave fans the thumbs-down sign between attempts and in his first interview after the event likened his treatment to the reception America’s black sprinter Jesse Owens received at the notorious 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.

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He apologised for that comment in the press conference later on but repeated his belief that booing rivals was unacceptable at the Olympics.

“If you get no respect in the Olympics, where can you get respect?” he said.

The behaviour of the crowds in the venues – when there are crowds in the venues – has been a recurring theme during the Games, with athletes, coaches and officials frequently having to ask for quiet at key times.

But the Brazilian fans’ football-style bonhomie has also created a great atmosphere in some venues, particularly when a home athlete or team were in action, or Argentina were playing.

But Mario Andrada, a spokesman for Rio 2016, “As an organising committee and as a citizen of Brazil and a sports fan, we don’t think booing is the right attitude, even when you’re in one-to-one competition with a young Brazilian who has a chance to be the champion.”

“We plan to intensify our dialogue with the Brazilian fans through social networks to make sure that they behave as fans in the proper and elegant manner without losing the passion for sport.

“Booing is not the right thing to do when you are competing at Olympic level.”

He did not elaborate on how this dialogue would take place and as of early afternoon in Rio there had been no message about booing on Rio 2016’s Facebook or Twitter feeds.

The International Olympic Committee has largely avoided saying anything critical about Rio, Rio 2016’s organisers or Brazilians fans, but its spokesman, Mark Adams, did say Olympic chiefs would prefer it if “the passion is channelled in a good way”.

But on the continuing problem of Rio’s half-empty venues, which was glaringly obvious during Monday’s memorable night of athletics, neither Adams nor Andrada had any new answers.

The latter repeated his mantra that ticket sales have improved as the Games have gone on, with the apparent gaps in the crowd being a product of fans not showing up for the actual sport, only staying for some part of the long sessions and leaving venues to look for refreshments.

Andrada admitted that 400,000 tickets were still available but said they were giving away an extra 25,000 to local schoolchildren.

However, he said the organising committee would not cut the cost of the remaining tickets as it was a private company determined to deliver the Games without public subsidy and therefore needed the ticket revenues.

This claim prompted giggles from the local media as Rio 2016 is currently in a legal dispute over the release of more public funding from the city of Rio to top up the money it has used from the Paralympics budget to keep the Olympics afloat.

Andrada refused to comment on this issue, or any other associated with the Paralympics, as Rio 2016’s lawyers are currently fighting an injunction that has stopped the release of those funds until the organising committee opens up its accounts for public scrutiny.