Rio 2016: Goalkeeper Hope Solo taunted with Zika chants

Even back in May, Solo told CNBC she was reluctant to travel and didn’t want to leave her Brazil hotel room.

The fans’ jeers were a reaction to a collection of photos Solo posted on Twitter before she and her teammates departed for Rio, which make it look as if she was preparing for war.

While some athletes have skipped the Olympics altogether because of Zika, Solo went to Rio, fully prepared to stave off the virus. “Get your own! #Zikaproof #Road to Rio” on her Twitter account.

But that didn’t stop the Belo Horizonte crowd from roasting her during her team’s opening match. As The Washington Post reports, Solo said she was “begrudgingly” attending the ceremonies this year due to concerns about the virus.

“…glad the fans had fun, and if they had fun at my expense, more power to them.”

The 35-year-old, once popular in the South American nation, incurred the wrath of Brazilians after posting a series of images on Instagram referencing the Zika crisis now ravaging through the continent.

After Wednesday’s match, Solo said she heard the fans chanting at her, but couldn’t understand what they were saying. The Brazilian crowd shouted “Zika” simultaneously whenever she kicked the ball up-field towards the end of the match.

“I was pretty focused on the game”, she said.

During the first match of the US team, the crowd at the Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte didn’t leave Solo alone (pun not intended). She tweeted an image of herself wearing mosquito netting and a hat.

Hope Solo addresses the audience while on stage as part of a panel discussion at Beyond Soccer in San Francisco, California. They can also bite at night.

U.S. Women’s Soccer player Hope Solo wowed soccer fans all over the world when she played the game of her life and claimed a huge victory with the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team at the World Cup in 2015.

The 35-year-old World Cup victor and two-time Olympic gold medalist said she was not bothered by the crowd noise in Belo Horizonte’s Estadio Mineirao and gave a calm explanation of her thoughts on the matter ahead of Saturday’s Group G clash with France.