They weren’t the only people to receive boos from the audience
The Winter Olympics kicked off last night in Italy, and the audience really let their feelings be known about who was in attendance.
Teams of athletes took to San Siro stadium, but some people in particular were met with a negative reception.
As Team USA took centre stage and the camera showed US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, boos echoed around the stadium.
“It’s very rare to hear boos at an Olympic opening ceremony,” commentator Christine Brennan wrote on X.
“In my 22 Olympics it probably has happened but I sure don’t remember it.
“Vice President JD Vance just got booed when he appeared on the big screen. The US athletes, on the other hand, received loud cheers.”
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams responded to questions on the booing of Vance at a press conference on Saturday.
“What I would say from the IOC point of view is with the next Games coming up in Los Angeles we are super happy that the US administration is so engaged with the Games here and going forward. That’s a great thing for the Olympic movement,” he said.
“We are largely a sports organisation and seeing the US team cheered as they were by the audience, fair play, that was fantastic, so very happy.
“In general at sporting events we like to see fair play, but in terms of having a good relationship with the administration, that’s good news for us.”
Vance wasn’t the only one to be booed by the audience, as Israel reportedly also received booing from the audience.
The state have been allowed to compete despite calls to ban them after the genocide in Gaza which, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, has killed over 70,000 Palestinians since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.
Adams issued a plea for sportsmanlike behaviour from audiences when asked about the booing of Israeli athletes.
“In terms of the athletes and the teams, whatever background, whatever country they’re from, I don’t think we like to see booing, we want to see sportsperson-like behaviour from everyone. It’s important that we support our athletes.
“The whole idea, or one of the ideas of the Olympic Movement is that the athletes shouldn’t be punished for whatever their governments have done, and I think that’s really important, that we see the athletes and athletic performance for what that says about humanity.
“I know the Italian supporters love their sport, I think when they start seeing amazing performances, whatever nationality, they will cheer those performances.”
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