Outside the quarter-full stadium, shouts echoed through the darkened streets of Rio’s Jardim Botanico neighbourhood upon Da Silva’s win.
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The Frenchman failed; the stadium erupted; Brazil had its first athletics gold medal in Rio.
It also ensured some unpleasant fallout for the hosts.
The party was on, though not for Lavillenie.
“We kind of embrace the booing”, said volleyball player Foluke Akinradewo, “because we’re used to it”.
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams praised Brazilians for their passion, but said, “The one thing we will ask is that passion is channeled in a good way and there are a lot of Brazilian fans absolutely loving these Games in a really good way”.
Booing has been a problem at numerous venues during the Olympic Games, with fans asked to hush at tennis and table tennis matches. He later apologized for that at a news conference.
“It is great to win such a big competition, my second gold”, he said. “Of course we can not compare” the two.
Regardless, after some 3e_STnS½ hours, including a rain-delay, Braz da Silva was celebrating.
The Frenchman added: “It really disturbed me, I felt the nastiness of the public and we do a sport where you never see that”.
“Every Games needs an iconic gold in the Olympic Stadium – think Cathy Freeman in Sydney, Michael Johnson in Atlanta, Fermin Cacho in Barcelona, the Mo/Jess/Greg triptych in London – but with so few chances and all of them outsiders, we thought it might not happen in Rio”.
“I didn’t want to be a ballerina but I did ballet until I was 10”. The least thing, if you don’t like someone, is to ignore them, but not to insult them.
The competition itself had all the drama needed.
Da Silva’s heroics somewhat overshadowed another imperious display by Rudisha, who two months ago was struggling badly with injuries. My first time over six metres.
Lavillenie called out the raucous pro-Brazilian crowd for booing him, and others, whenever they cleared heights, thus bumping da Silva down in the standings.
Instead of concentrating exclusively on his final jump, Lavillenie, gave the crowd the thumbs-down. The host nation, which had been counting on the female vaulter Fabiana Murer to win gold later in the Olympics, now has a new star. “It sounds like a Brazilian football players’s name”.
“I held it till the moment I no longer could”, he said.
Lavillenie’s second effort, which left the bear shuddering before it made a decision to drop, drew a huge “Oooohhh”, even from this partisan crowd.
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The 22-year-old then chose to begin jumping at the opening height of 5.50 metres, something he did at last year’s worlds en route to his victorious Canadian record of 5.93 metres. This one will feel far worse though, since his whole season he had worked for this night.
