The Olympic Committee has issued a response after athletes from both the US and Israel were booed at the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday (February 6).
Italy’s famous San Siro played host to the opening ceremony, despite the games officially getting underway on Wednesday (February 4).
Mariah Carey headlined the show, while the iconic nations parade also took place as fans were introduced to all the countries involved in the Games.
Ilia Malinin performs backflip
Both the US and Israeli team’s walkout were greeted with boos, with the American side of things seemingly aimed at the vice president as jeers were heard as the cameras cut to JD Vance and his wife, Usha, who were waving American flags during the opening ceremony.
CBC’s broadcast of the event was certainly enlightening, as one of the commentators said: « There is the vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha – oops, those are not … uh … those are a lot of boos for him. Whistling, jeering, some applause.”The four athletes representing Israel were also booed as they entered the San Siro.
Now, the Olympic Committee has issued a response following the booing aimed at Vance in particular.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said at a press conference on Saturday (February 8): « 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.
“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.”
The spokesperson continued: “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.”
Prior to the beginning of the Winter Olympics kicking off, IOC president Kirsty Coventry urged fans to be ‘respectful’ to all competing nations.Team USA’s Lindsey Vonn has suffered a devastating crash in the Winter Olympics just a week after sustaining a serious knee injury.
Last week, the 41-year-old sports legend announced on Instagram that she’d injured her knee, which was later revealed to be a ruptured ACL along with a bone bruise and meniscal damage.
Online, it was suggested that Vonn’s ACL was already injured before last week, which is why she was able to bounce back so impressively ahead of today’s race (February 8), but she hit back and insisted that that wasn’t the case.
Detailing the extent of her injury, she wrote on social media: « My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn’t mean it’s not possible. And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80% or 50%. It’s 100% gone. »Despite the serious injury, Vonn proceeded to take part in today’s alpine ski event at Milano Cortina 2026.
Just yesterday, Vonn clocked the third-fastest time in the second downhill training session, The Guardian reported — but this all changed this afternoon.
Making her way down the slopes, Vonn clipped one of the flags and came crashing down.
The live coverage of the devastating scenes saw medics rush to her aid as the American athlete was screaming out in pain.
The crowd, her teammates, and competitors were stunned into silence, and they waited with bated breath to see if Vonn got back up.
Worryingly, she didn’t and was airlifted off to hospital.
BBC Sport noted that Vonn was not actually lifted into the helicopter and remained dangling off the aircraft on a rope, something which the news outlet’s reporter suggested was a really bad sign, as Vonn might have been too injured to be safely hoisted into the helicopter.People have since taken to Twitter to share their heartbreak about Vonn’s injury and hearing her in pain.
« Sick to my stomach seeing Lindsay screaming in agony, » someone said, adding: « This looked so bad. »
« Watching Lindsey Vonn fall and hearing her scream in panic is terrible, » wrote a second.
Another Olympics viewer said: « You could hear Vonn screaming in pain on the mountain for a while during the delay here. Tough to watch. »
The full extent of Vonn’s injuries from today are yet to be revealed at the time of writing.
The US has issued an urgent ‘do not travel’ warning for two countries amid increased political unrest and even risk to life.
While it’s great to experience new countries and cultures by traveling the world, even seasoned veterans need to keep in mind places that are not safe to visit.
I mean, people like Drew Binsky, who has traveled to every single country in the world, managed to travel such countries unharmed – but the official advice from the US is to avoid these visiting these two particular nations.
The State Department has issued a ‘do not travel’ warning to parts of Colombia amid increased risk of ‘violent crime’ and ‘terrorism’.
« Do not travel to these areas for any reason. Violent crime, like armed robbery and murder, is common in these locations. Terrorist groups are active in some areas here, » the department states on its website. »Due to the risks, U.S. government employees working in Colombia are prohibited from traveling to these areas. »
While some regions are in the ‘reconsider travel’ category, the State Department advises against visiting Arauca, Cauca, and the Colombia-Venezuela border because of crime.
The department added: « Violent crime, like murder, assault, and robbery, is common in many areas in Colombia. In some places, organized crime is rampant. This includes extortion, robbery, and kidnapping.
« There is risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity, in Colombia. »
The department also stated that US nationals that have entered Colombia without a visa have faced ‘terrorism charges’, which has led to them being held for ‘long periods’.
Burkina Faso is another nation the US government advises against all travel due to a ‘terrorism, crime, and kidnapping’ risk.
The landlocked country based in West Africa has an estimated population of 23 million, and its one of the least developed nations in the world.Issuing a warnings to travelers thinking of paying Burkina Faso a visit, the State Department said: « Do not travel to Burkina Faso for any reason due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.
« Terrorist organizations continue to plan and conduct terrorist activities throughout Burkina Faso. »
They continued: « The threat of kidnapping remains persistent throughout Burkina Faso, including in Ouagadougou and especially in the Sahel and East regions.
« Due to the risks, the U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in most of the country. U.S. government employees working in Burkina Faso are prohibited from traveling to regions outside the capital due to security concerns. »
Reason behind Olympic ‘Blue Scrotum’ performance at opening ceremony explained amid backlash from viewers
It’s since been cleared up what the Paris Olympics opening ceremony singer was dressed as and no, it wasn’t Papa
The Paris Olympics performer whose ‘blue scrotum’ performance faced intense scrutiny online has spoken out.
On July 26, the 2024 Paris Olympics kicked off with a jam-packed opening ceremony, unfortunately, social media users were left divided.
Some were left disappointed by the sound quality of Lady Gaga’s performance and others were confused and even outraged by the appearance of a singing ‘blue scrotum’ on top of a platter of fruit.
After seeing a gold domed lid give way to a man painted head-to-toe in blue, singing from his lying position on a platter of fruit, many viewers took to Twitter to weigh in.
« Who had seeing a blue scrotum on their Olympic opening ceremony bingo card. For teenagers of the 90s this is like Eurotrash the movie. Incroyable, » one user said.
Another wrote: « Horrific. »
And a third questioned: « That supposed to be Zeus? »
While many were simply confused, conservatives were outraged, taking the act as a mockery of the Last Supper – and subsequently Christianity.
However, it’s since been cleared up just what the singer was meant to be dressed as and what the performance all meant – and no, he wasn’t Papa Smurf, Zeus a scrotum or anything to do with the Last Supper.Artistic director of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, told BFM TV that the last supper ‘wasn’t’ his ‘inspiration’ for the act.
Instead, the singer was meant to portray Dionysus – the god of wine, festivity, religious ecstasy and theatre – and the food and other drag queens standing around him were meant to represent them being at a ‘big pagan festival linked to the gods of Olympus’.
Dionysus himself – a.k.a. actor and singer Philippe Katerine – even addressed the controversy to Le Parisien.He explained: [Translation] « I wrote a song called ‘Nude’ and, while making it, I thought that for the Olympics, it would be good. During the first Olympic Games in Greece, the athletes were naked according to the representations of the time on engravings and vases. Nudity is really the very origin of the Games. At the beginning, they were naturist Olympics. So I sent my video, a little motivational tape to Thomas Jolly in February and he liked it. »
Katerine noted he’s ‘a bit of an exhibitionist’ and the performance is his ‘culture’ and he’s ‘proud’ of it.
The singer resolved: « We’re full of different people and everyone lives their own way and, above all, has the right to do so. I loved doing it.
« It’s the first time I sing this song, and I wanted to get my message across, which goes like this: ‘If we are naked, there is no war because there are no weapons.' »
‘Blue Scrotum’ performance leaves Olympic viewers shocked in what they say was the ‘worst opening ceremony ever’
« Who had seeing a blue scrotum on their Olympic opening ceremony bingo card? »
Viewers of the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony are in disbelief after seeing a ‘blue scrotum’ appear on screen.
Social media users may’ve taken to their keyboards in rage over the sound quality of Lady Gaga’s performance, but thankfully for her, the singer’s alleged technical difficulties have been overshadowed by the appearance of a ‘blue scrotum’ who appeared on top of a platter of fruit during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics in France.
If you don’t believe me, take a look for yourself:
A clip of the performance has been widely circulated online, showing a gold plated domed lid rising into the air to reveal a platter of fruit with a man, painted completely blue with a bright yellow beard, wearing a crown of fruit on his head and wreath around his waist. Other than that, seeming pretty much naked.
Lying down with one leg propped up, he then lifts up a microphone and begins to sing.
And it’s not taken long for viewers to flood to Twitter to weigh in.One user said: « Who had seeing a blue scrotum on their Olympic opening ceremony bingo card. For teenagers of the 90s this is like Eurotrash the movie. Incroyable. »
« Poppa Smurf when he was younger, » another added.
A third commented: « Horrific. »
« Right because I’ve always wondered what a blue scrotum looks like exactly I’m pretty sure the whole sane world let out a collective gasp at the sights and sounds of this depravity on display. Paris should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this and expecting the world to applaud this grossness, » a fourth wrote.
A fifth questioned: « That supposed to be Zeus? »
« I think Zeus would be offended. People are calling him a blue scrotum, which is probably closer to the truth, » another replied.
Sadly for Paris, it wasn’t just the ‘blue scrotum’, which led to bad reviews raining in online either.A user wrote: « This is the worst Olympic opening ceremony I have ever seen, it’s actually embarrassing. It is NOTHING to do with the sports and athletes, it’s just some random dancers getting all the airtime and the athletes get maybe five seconds per country? Ridiculous!!! »
« Am I the only one who thinks that the #OpeningCeremony is absolutely awful? What is actually going on?There is no coordination and everything is just messy. It’s like it’s been put together in seven days not seven years. The worst Opening Ceremony for an Olympics #Paris2024#OlympicGames, » a second added.
And a third resolved: « This has to be the worst, most pathetic, cringe worthy and embarrassing attempt at an opening ceremony I could ever imagine.. »
So, what do you think?
