OPINION: Ashton Eaton Did Nothing Wrong By Wearing A Canada Hat To Support His Wife

by Lindsey HorstingAugust 16, 2016, 9:57 amNews >

Ashton Eaton, an American decathlete competing in the Rio 2016 Olympics, showed up to his Canadian wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton’s, heptathlete event wearing a red Team Canada baseball hat.

Theisen-Eaton won bronze in the women’s heptathlon in Rio, and when her husband came to support her it caused quite a stir on Twitter.

This upset quite a lot of American fans, Eaton was called a “traitor” for wearing the hat and cheering for his wife. The tweet below comes from an account that seems to specialize in contrary opinions.

Really? Let the man live.

Some of the tweets are ridiculous and offer suggestions for a different slogan on the hat. The man is at the Olympics, and prior to it was training to get there, I don’t think he had time to make a custom hat. The tweet below is one of the suggestions.

Eaton responded to the tweets to portray a bigger picture view, we all come from different places but in the Olympics you only represent one country.

The unfortunate lack of sportsmanship is sad. People cheering for their country is great, and yes, some of the negative support was just people searching for something negative to say, but people need to be more rational and understanding. Athletics Canada sent out a supportive tweet for Eaton, he may have lost American fans for the moment, but he’s gained all the Canadian fans for a lifetime.

.@AshtonJEaton we appreciate the support for your wife, & we’re cool with Bri supporting ?? when you compete ? pic.twitter.com/9OkJ2mgB0K

The two met at Eaton’s freshman year at University of Oregon and they got married in 2013. They are an international power couple and they are in a Visa commercial together donning their respective country’s gear, a parody between U.S. and Canadian competition. The irony is that they call themselves Team North America.

Eaton won gold in the decathlon at the London 2012 Olympics and will be competing to defend his title beginning on Wednesday.

EUGENE, OR – JULY 03: Ashton Eaton during the Men’s Decathlon 110 Meter Hurdles during the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on July 3, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)