Anthony Ammirati has finally spoken out after the devastating end to his Olympic journey went viral.
On Saturday (3 August) 21-year-old Ammirati was hoping to book his place in the men’s Olympic pole vaulting finals.
After successfully clearing 5.40 and 5.60 meter bars, the Frenchman looked as if he’d go on to clear the 5.70 meter pole with ease.
However, on his third attempt, the bar came crashing down upon him and his summer sporting ambitions came to a close.
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Unfortunately, these dreams were dashed due to Ammirati seemingly getting his penis caught on the pole.
After the freak accident, the French athlete was quickly disqualified from the competition.
The incident has since gone viral and now Ammirati has broken his silence on how it feels to miss out on a potential podium place.
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While he didn’t exactly reference the moment, the athlete did explain to the French Athletics Federation that he was ‘a bit gutted’ not to make the men’s pole vaulting finals.
“I’m a bit gutted, because I didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70 m,” he explained.
“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,” Ammirati continued. “The conditions were good. It’s the first time I’ve started a competition without any stress.
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“As I was a total outsider, I only had one goal: to interact with the audience. I was almost there.”
Hilariously when Ammirati brought the bar down with his body part he left a trio of Olympic commentators speechless.
In a video being shared across social media, one can be heard saying: “What happened here?”
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Another commentator appeared to reply 'On the way down...' while another made an awkward sound as they watched a replay to uncover exactly what had happened.
Following Ammirati’s failed pole vaulting attempt, sports fans have come out in droves to debate the history-making moment.
Taking Twitter, one user wrote: “Well, you win some you lose some.”
A second typed: “Stiff competition.. got everyone nervous these games.”
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“Loses vault. Wins internet,” remarked another user.
A fourth commented: “I think its a bigger flex than winning a medal lmao,” while someone else remarked it was definitely one way to ‘go down in Olympic history”.
While Ammirati’s Olympic journey may be over, the pole vaulter has some past successes to take comfort in.
Prior to making his debut in Paris this summer, the Grasse-born star collected gold medals at the 2022 World U20 Championships and the 2021 European Under 20 Championships.
Ella Scott