French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati is stealing the spotlight for all the wrong reasons at the 2024 Paris Olympics after a rather unexpected mishap involving his, um, equipment.
The 21-year-old vaulter was soaring high in his qualifying event on Saturday (August 3) in Paris when his daring leap took an unexpected turn. As he gracefully attempted to clear the bar, it turns out he had a little extra “baggage” swinging in the breeze. Cue the dramatic fall of the bar and a qualifying score that wasn’t quite enough to keep him in the race.
Now, a video of this epic blooper is making waves on social media, and people are having a field day with it.
“Anthony Ammirati: proof that sometimes your biggest asset can be your biggest liability,” one tweet read, adding a cheeky emoji for good measure.
“Not winning the gold medal in pole vaulting because your, uh, ‘over-enthusiastic’ parts made an unplanned appearance? Still a win in my book. Long live le king of bulge!” another post cheered.
And the pièce de résistance: “When you’re about to snag an Olympic medal but your enormous, ahem, ‘pole’ decides to make an unscheduled cameo while the world watches in slow-mo.”
Here’s hoping Anthony’s next jump is a little less, shall we say, obstructed!
The most peculiar way to lose a pole vaulting Olympic competition.
Athlete Anthony Ammirati, #today.pic.twitter.com/fqOnluvb5B
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 3, 2024
