Russia and discrimination has been something of a hot topic as of late.
And the lighting of the Olympic flame by two of Russia's famous Olympians, Irina Rodnina and Vladislav Tretiak, was also not without controversy — but this time over discrimination of a different variety.
As The Guardian reported last year, Rodnina garnered international attention after tweeting a doctored photo of U.S. President Barack Obama that sparked outrage as some interpreted the doctored photo to be racist.
The tweet, which has since been deleted from her account, showed Obama chewing. A hand holding a banana had been superimposed in the foreground.
ABC reporter Terry Moran posted a photo of the deleted tweet on the day of the Opening Ceremony.
The tweet was sent at at time of tension between the US and Russia over military intervention in Syria.
Rodnina's partner in lighting the flame, Vladislav Tretiak, a member of the United Russia part as well, voted in 2012 for a Russian law that would ban some US citizens from entering the country as well as prohibiting the adoption of Russian children by Americans.
