Anthony Ammirati doesn’t seem to be enjoying his viral Olympic moment as much as the internet.
The French pole vaulter spoke for the first time on the disappointment of not medaling after his privates got in the way of his performance.
The 21-year-old missed his 5.70m target on his third attempt when his bulge knocked down the pole, which led to his downfall ahead of the finals on Monday.
“It’s a big disappointment,” Ammirati told the French Athletics Federation.
“I’m a bit gutted because I didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70m. What I did miss was a bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings. Just a technical session.”
Ammirati did not address the moment that had social media gawking.“I was 100 percent physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault,” Ammirati said.“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.”The instance also left commentators speechless. They were audibly flustered at the sight of how the pole fell, scrambling to acknowledge what had happened.
The slip-up caused Ammirati to finish 12th with a height of 5.60 in Group A; he had already cleared two heights prior.
It wasn’t the first time something like this had unfolded.
At the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita also hit the bar with his manhood – causing it to fall.
Ammirati wasn’t the only French pole vaulter filled with disappointment.
Fellow competitor Thibault Collet was in the medal conversation ahead of the Olympic Games after he cleared a bar at 5.95m in June, making him the third-best pole vaulter in French history, as reported by The Daily Mail.
However, his performance in Paris ended with him recording a height of 5.75m, which ranked him 11th.
“When people say that the Games are different, well, it really is different. 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.” Collet said, per The Mail.“Today, I missed my competition. I knew that this qualification was going to be tough and now I’m taking it in the face. The Olympic Games are over. I’m going to pack my bags before going home.”
