Russian president Vladimir Putin dropped by the USA and Canada Houses in Sochi on Friday. The visit from the president generated plenty of attention from the Olympians within his presence. It’s no surprise that the Olympians began snapping photos since they all have been documenting their times in Sochi.

However, one athlete took it upon herself to snap a selfie with the president.

That’s right, Speedskater Brittany Schussler took a snapshot of her and Putin.

Schussler immediately took to Twitter, posting the recently snapped selfie along with a caption that read, “I should’ve asked him to be my Valentine.”

Right after the tweet was posted for her followers, Schussler was met with loads of angry tweets. The criticism of the Putin selfie was so harsh, she ended up deleting the photo shortly after it was posted.

@CDNOlympicTeam could've welcomed Putin at Canada House & not tweeted or given him social media recognition in protest. #lgbt #Lgbtq

— K McCallum (@thenthereskeith) February 15, 2014

Putin on the ritz on the front page of Saturday's @WinnipegNews: pic.twitter.com/sudqDmpV6s

— Winnipeg Free Press (@WinnipegNews) February 15, 2014

@bschussler @WinnipegNews your joke was in poor taste & disrespectful of all the lives lost & continued intolerance because of Putin. Shame.

— K McCallum (@thenthereskeith) February 15, 2014

The speedskater even sent out a message to her followers, defending her previous actions.

.@WinnipegNews I see you put up my tweet pic w/ Putin. To be clear I was joking + in no way want to be misconstrued as supporting his values

— Brittany Schussler (@bschussler) February 15, 2014

People really need to lighten up! Lame for Brittany Schussler to get trashed like she did. Sad!

— Stephen Dyrgas (@stephendyrgas) February 16, 2014

It seems not everyone was offended by the pic, taking to Twitter to defend the Canadian speedskater.

Whatever happened to CDN humour? Really? Ppl need to relax RT Brittany Schussler blasted for Vladimir Putin pic http://t.co/XPdS9nki4y

— CFLArsenal (@CFLArsenal) February 16, 2014

People really need to lighten up! Lame for Brittany Schussler to get trashed like she did. Sad!

— Stephen Dyrgas (@stephendyrgas) February 16, 2014

So far Schussler hasn’t made any further comments since she posted her apology to Twitter.

What do you think of the selfie Schussler posted? Did the Olympian cross a line? Leave your comments below.

Image Via YouTube