Win like nobody's watching! American shot putter Michelle Carter receives her gold medal on the podium... in front of swathes of empty seats 

American shot put history maker Michelle Carter was unwittingly at the center of an Olympic controversy as she stood on the podium to receive her gold medal Saturday night.

As the Star-Spangled Banner echoed around the 47,000-seater stadium, she smiled and accepted her medal in front of swathes of empty seats.

Rio 2016 has been plagued by a lack of interest which has seen thousands of seats in arenas unoccupied.

Receiving her medal: Michelle Carter stood on the podium Saturday in front of empty seats

Almost empty: Carter could not have failed to notice the countless lines of empty seats. Pictured: The stadium during round one of the women's 400m Saturday

But athletics officials tried to defend the stayaway fans and risked offending Carter, the first woman to clinch gold in the shot put for the US.

Asked whether it was fair for Carter and other athletes who toil for four years to reach the winner’s podium and receive medals in a near-empty stadium, one senior official told Daily Mail.com: ‘The ceremony for them is the most important thing?'

Carter celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's shot put 

Carter, 30, was all smiles but could not have failed to notice the countless lines of empty seats.

Later, the spectator numbers increased, but as the gold medal competition for the men’s hurdles and semi finals of the women's 100m were underway, large sections remained unfilled.

Britain’s former Olympic gold medalist Lord Coe, who was in charge of London 2012 Olympics, defended the games.

He said: ’The evening sessions are always going to be tougher than the morning sessions. That is the way it always has been here’

Making history: Michelle Carter is the first women to clinch gold in the shot put for the US

Big shot! The American record holder gave everything as she hurled the shot 20.63 meters to snatch gold from New Zealand’s Valerie Adams

Yannis Nikolaou, the communications manager for the International Association of Athletics Federations, said there was a different culture in Brazil, with the nation's sports lovers more into football and basketball than athletics.

He said: ‘It is a different country and a different culture. Here it is football. But it was different this morning – we were celebrating and it was packed.

'It is not empty, it looks like 30,000 people from here. It is not fair to compare with London, they are different cities, in the UK there is a strong track and field tradition.

‘But we cannot have the Olympics in Europe all the time, we have to take them to different countries, to develop and expand.

‘It is not a fair comparison with Brazil because the people here do not have the salaries of the British citizens or Americans.

‘You have to understand we are in Brazil, it is football, volleyball and basketball.

‘It’s a sports country and its football and team sports. It is not fair to compare it with London.’

Expectations: It had been billed as 'Super Saturday' with Mo Farah running for his second 10,000m gold. Pictured: The stadium during round one of the women's 400m Saturday

Told the start of the athletics yesterday were heralded by a near empty stadium he said: ‘You were in a different stadium, it was good, about 70 per cent (occupied).'

It has been billed as ‘Super Saturday’ with Olympic star Mo Farah running for his second 10,000m gold and two other gold medals to be decided.

But one observer said: ‘Maybe they should rename it "Sad Saturday". I feel sorry for the athletes who deserve a full stadium to compete in.’

Tomorrow’s much anticipated showdown for the Olympic mens’ 100m gold medal, which is likely to feature current champion Usain Bolt, is being seeing as a potential games changer.