5 reasons Brazilian crowds will boo you at the Olympics

A lot of people have noticed the boisterous antics of Brazil supporters at this year’s Olympics in Rio.

From swimming to basketball, gymnastics to football: athletes have been subjected to relentless booing regardless of what team they’re from.

The BBC reports that Brazilian crowds tend to take sides but can switch allegiances “at the drop of a hat”.

IOC’s director of communications Mark Adams said:

They seem to be able to boo athletes from many countries. It’s quite difficult to work out why they might be booing one athlete and not another.

Mr Adams believes that the booing is not malicious – rather it’s the Brazilians' way of getting involved in the drama of the event.

Here are 5 reasons you might be booed by a Brazilian

1. You’re Russian

The Russians are having a particularly hard time of it in Rio (the few that have been allowed to compete, anyway), after evidence was found of state-sponsored doping.

Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova was booed in every single one of her 100m breaststroke heats, but she seemed to brush this off and went on to win silver… only to break down in tears after the US team’s Lily King said: "It just proves that you can compete clean and still come out on top."

2. You’re a politician

Interim Brazilian president Michel Temer was booed as he declared the Games open, despite keeping his speech to a single sentence.

Temer has taken over after his predecessor Dilma Rousseff was suspended for alleged obstruction of justice in an ongoing corruption probe into Brazil’s state oil company.

3. You said something stupid about Zika

US goalkeeper Hope Solo caused uproar after posting photos of A LOT of mosquito repellent and netting laid out in her hotel room, with many Brazilians viewing it as a slight against their country, which is currently battling a nationwide Zika outbreak.

4. You’re a judge

Yep, even the Olympic judges have been having a hard time.

Since Brazil was hosting, it was automatically given a place in the men’s final for the 10m synchronised platform diving – even though their divers weren’t really up to the challenge.

Judges gave the team the lowest marks – cue booing.

However, nothing so far has quite matched the moment Russian Alexei Nemov (surprisingly a Brazilian crowd favourite) pulled off a risky high bar routine only to be given a low score. The Brazilians booed for seven minutes.

5. You’re the favourite to win

Brazilians love an underdog – as was seen in an early basketball match between Croatia and Spain. The crowd were heard cheering Croatia and booing Spain – and the result was a shock defeat for the latter, 72-70.

More: The 10 most outrageously sexist moments of the Rio Olympics so far