Jess Battison
An Olympic pole vaulter who crashed out of the men's qualifiers in a surprisingly NSFW way has opened up about the mishap.
You might say you’re watching the Olympics for the sport, but let’s be honest it’s also all the drama, the excitement and the viral moments.
And alongside the likes of Snoop Dogg in his full horse-riding get up, Simone Biles being a GOAT to an Olympian ‘rawdogging’ events, yesterday (3 August) birthed another big moment. Emphasis on big.
During the pole vault event, an athlete had a rather unfortunate mishap as a body part caught the bar. Yep, his d**k.
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Frenchman Anthony Ammirati seemed all set to clear 5.70 metres when his knee collided with the bar, followed by his apparent bulge. Of course, this moment quickly went viral on social media and he’s now broken his silence.
The 21-year-old was understandably frustrated by the crotch collision as it denied him his qualification, taking away his chances of a medal.
Ammirati didn’t directly reference his manhood misfortune but said it was ‘a big disappointment’.
He told the French Athletics Federation: “I’m a bit gutted, because I didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70 m. What I did miss was a bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings. Just a technical session.”
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The athlete, who won gold at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2022, continued: “I was 100 percent physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault.
“The conditions were good. It’s the first time I’ve started a competition without any stress. As I was a total outsider, I only had one goal: to interact with the audience. I was almost there.”
Social media obviously had an absolute (track and) field day when it was caught on camera yesterday – made worse by the slo-mo editing – as users took to X to say: “He’s got to learn to pack better before he travels.”
Another added: “Man, that's a tough way to lose out on the Olympics. But also, uh, quite the unique reason! Wonder how that conversation went with the coach.”
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Ammirati’s teammate Thibaut Collet finished just one place ahead, in 11th, and also missed out on the next round of the event.
"When people say that the Games are different, well, it really is different," he said.
"I thought it wouldn't necessarily affect me by arriving with potentially the third world performance of the year, but that doesn't mean anything.
"Today, I missed my competition. I knew that this qualification was going to be tough and now I'm taking it in the face.
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"The Olympic Games are over. I'm going to pack my bags before going home."
