Written by Naja Rayne at People Magazine
Hope Solo is not receiving a warm welcome in Rio.
During Wednesday’s soccer game against New Zealand the U.S. Women’s National Team goalie was booed every time she touched the ball, the Washington Post reports.
The backlash reportedly came as a response to the 35-year-old’s July tweets, in which she joked about her preparations for the Summer Olympics, sharing a photo of herself in a mosquito net and another with excessive amounts of bug repellent, as she took precautions in dealing with the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
According to several reports, the crowd chanted “Zika! Zika!” at Solo repeatedly through the game.
“Not sharing this!!! Get your own! #zikaproof #RoadToRio,” Solo captioned one of the photos, writing below the other, “If anyone in the village forgets to pack repellent, come and see me… #DeptOfDefense #zikaproof.”
Solo has been vocal about her skepticism at the rampant virus and how it would affect the games, saying in February that she was considering skipping out.
“If I had to make the choice today, I wouldn’t go [to the Olympics],” she told Sports Illustrated at the time. “The Zika virus is definitely a concern to me … I do know that it’s spreading and they don’t really have a vaccination to treat it, so it’s definitely worrisome.”
The virus is especially threatening to women, as it poses the threat of birth defects to babies of pregnant women.
While Solo ultimately made the decision to attend the games, she’s still sticking to her diligent use of mosquito repellent, although she told the Associated Press that she feels American media has been a bit unfair to Brazilians.
“I’m wearing mosquito repellent just in case. I know the odds are very small, but you can never be too safe,” she told the outlet. “It’s a little bit unfortunate because I think the American media has been really tough on people of Brazil. I feel a little bit bad because when you come here you learn for yourself. I think that we’ve been very hard on the local people.”
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