Renaud Lavillerie is the pole vault world record holder and Olympic champion at London 2012, a truly world class athlete. But he was surprised when the spectators whistled and booed him during the Rio final, which was won by a Brazilian. He foolishly (in our view) blamed the Brazilian people for unsporting behaviour, saying no athlete had been so treated since Jesse Owens in Berlin 1936.
He later apologised but the damage was done and he was again booed on the podium during the medal ceremony. There is a point at which patriotism over-rules good sportsmanship, but sadly Lavillerie looks to be a bad loser.
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