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Pole vaulter breaks silence after unfortunate incident saw his penis ruin chances of a medal

Pole vaulter breaks silence after unfortunate incident saw his penis ruin chances of a medal

French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati left commentators lost for words as he was eliminated from the qualifiers at the Paris Olympics

A pole vaulter at the Olympics has broken his silence after he went crashing out of the men's qualifiers in NSFW fashion.

France's Anthony Ammirati competed in the men's pole vault qualification at the Paris Olympics on Saturday (August 3).

Despite hoping he'd make the final, Ammirati missed out on a spot due to a rather unfortunate reason.

After successfully clearing 5.40 meters and 5.60 meters, the Olympian struggled to clear 5.70 meters.

His third attempt was the closest, but it was his own body that ended his hopes.

Yep, his penis clipped the bar on his way over and it came crashing down.

The pole vaulter has broken his silence. (Kevin Voigt/GettyImages)
The pole vaulter has broken his silence. (Kevin Voigt/GettyImages)

A clip of the moment has been shared on social media countless times at this point, leading to perhaps some unexpected fame for the Frenchman.

The 21-year-old has now broken his silence on becoming a bit of a social media sensation.

Ammirati was understandably frustrated by the mishap, though he didn't directly reference the NSFW incident.

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.


"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.”

He added: "I’m just glad I can make people smile and laugh. And who knows, maybe this will be the start of something amazing!”

It was a rather unfortunate situation. (Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
It was a rather unfortunate situation. (Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

When the crotch collision happened in real time, it's fair to say Olympic commentators were left pretty stunned.

One asked: "What happened here?"

Another commentator appeared to reply 'On the way down...' while others made some rather unusual sounds as they came to realize exactly what happened.

And it's the commentators response in particular that's had many viewers in stitches.

One person tweeted: "Anthony Ammirati failed the bar and the commentators are clearly having a hard time acknowledging what happened. I'M DYING."

"The struggle to keep it professional when it's so painfully obvious is too real," said another.

"Loses vault. Wins internet," another person penned

"When you lose but you still win," quipped someone else.

Team USA's current medal count - 71

Gold medalists

  • Lee Kiefer: Fencing - Women's individual foil
  • Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
  • Jack Alexj, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Matt King: Swimming - Men's 4x100m freestyle
  • Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's team competition
  • Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 1500m freestyle
  • Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan: Rowing - Men's coxless four
  • Jacqueline Dubrovich, Lee Kiefer, Lauren Scruggs, Maia Mei Weintraub - Fencing: Women's foil team
  • Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
  • Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m breaststroke
  • Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
  • Vincent Hancock: Shooting - Men's skeet
  • Ryan Crouser: Athletics - Men's shot put
  • Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
  • Nic Fink, Torri Huske, Ryan Murphy, Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Mixed 4x100m medley relay
  • Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 1500m freestyle
  • Kristen Faulkner: Cycling - Women's road race
  • Scottie Scheffler: Golf - Men's individual stroke play
  • Noah Lyles: Athletics - Men's 100m
  • Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 4x100m medley relay

Silver medalists

  • Nic Fink: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
  • Lauren Scruggs: Fencing - Women's individual foil
  • Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
  • Haley Batten: Mountain Bike - Women's cross country
  • Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh. Torri Huske, Simone Manuel, Erika Connolly, Abbey Weitzel: Swimming - Women's 4x100m freestyle
  • Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook: Diving - Women's springboard 3m synchronised
  • Katie Grimes: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
  • Jagger Eaton: Skateboarding - Men's street
  • Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
  • Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 800m freestyle
  • Carson Foster, Brooks Curry, Chris Guiliano, Luke Hobson, Drew Kibler, Blake Pieroni, Kieran Smith: Swimming - Men, 4x200m freestyle
  • Perris Benegas: Cycling - Women's BMX freestyle
  • Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m freestyle
  • Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m butterfly
  • Erin Gemell, Katie Ledecky, Paige Madden, Simone Manuel, Anna Peplowski, Alex Shackell, Claire Weinstein: Swimming - Women's 4x200m freestyle
  • Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, McLain Ward: Equestrian - Jumping team
  • Sagen Maddalena: Shooting - Women, 50m rifle 3 positions
  • Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m backstroke
  • Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram: Tennis - Men's doubles
  • Conner Prince: Shooting - Men's skeet
  • Joe Kovacs: Athletics - Men's shot put
  • Kaylyn Brown, Bryce Deadmon, Shamier Little, Vernon Norwood: Athletics - 4x400m relay mixed
  • Sha'Carri Richardson: Athletics - Women's 100m
  • Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m individual medley
  • Brady Ellison: Archery: Men's individual
  • Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Nic Fink, Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 4x100m medley relay

Bronze medalists

  • Carson Foster: Swimming - Men's 400m individual medley
  • Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 400m freestyle
  • Chloe Dygert: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
  • Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, Asher Hong: Artistic Gymnastics - Men's team competition
  • Nick Itkin: Fencing - Men's foil individual
  • Emma Weyant: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
  • Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 100m backstroke
  • Luke Hobson: Swimming - Men's 200m freestyle
  • Nyjah Huston: Skateboarding - Men's street
  • Ilona Maher, Kayla Canett, Lauren Doyle, Alev Kelter, Kristi Kirshe, Sarah Levy, Alena Olsen, Ariana Ramsey, Steph Rovetti, Alex Sedrick, Sammy Sullivan, Naya Tapper: Rugby 7s - Women's team competition
  • Katharine Berkoff: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
  • Evy Leibfarth: Canoe slalom - Women's Canoe Single
  • Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
  • Casey Kaufhold, Brady Ellison: Archery - Mixed Team
  • Grant Fisher: Athletics - Men's 10,000m
  • Ian Barrows and Hans Henken: Sailing - Men's skiff
  • Henry Hollingsworth, Nick Rusher, Christian Tabash, Clark Dean, Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain, Evan Olson, Pieter Quinton: Rowing - Men's eight
  • Stephen Nedoroscik: Gymnastics - Men's pommel horse
  • Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul: Tennis - Men's doubles
  • Jade Carey: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
  • Jasmine Moore: Athletics - Women's triple jump
  • Melissa Jefferson: Athletics - Women's 100m
  • Paige Madden: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
  • Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's uneven bars
  • Austen Jewell Smith: Shooting - Women's skeet
  • Fred Kerley: Athletics - Men's 100m
Featured Image Credit: NBC/Getty/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

Topics: Olympics, Sport