we can laugh about it now but back then takeshita received a huge backlash from russian fans. she even talked about it for a long time thank god social media wasn't yet a thing back then
It was pretty rough because she said she was harassed after the ceremony with some fans throwing stuff at her and then the day after when Japan was leaving for the airport....
Still, this remains one of the most intact core memory for majority of volleyball fans who aren't even fans of Japanese volleyball and also strong proof that no one will ever put Saori above Takeshita except Japanese fans themselves which is a little sad but their media always go overboard when it comes to Saori. I believe Zetterlund also talked about that way before Tokyo