One of the biggest starts of this year’s Olympics is Anthony Ammirati, who ended up going viral for possibly THE most unexpected reason ever.
When the French athlete arrived in Paris last month for the 2024 sporting tournament, no doubt he hoped his performance would see him go down in history as a medalist.
And though his attempt would quickly become one of the most talked-about moments from this year's games, the 21-year-old could never have predicted the reason why.
Anthony Ammirati’s viral pole vault
It was thought that Ammirati would comfortably land himself in the top three performers in the pole vault event.
He cleared 5.40 and 5.60 meter bars without breaking much of a sweat, and the French sportsman seemed poised to clear the 5.70 meter pole with similar ease.
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Tragically, however, it wasn't meant to be for the rising star, as the bar came crashing down and ended his Olympic dreams.
But it wasn't until watching the replays in slow motion that it eventually dawned on viewers what exactly had gone wrong...
That's because it was Ammirati's penis getting stuck on the pole and subsequently knocking it off that saw him land in 12th place at this year's Olympics, as opposed to bagging a spot on the podium.
An x-rated offer
Since then, Ammirati's unlikely mishap has brought him worldwide fame.
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In fact, he’s even caught the attention of several pornographic sites, with one in particular apparently keen to sign him up.
According to reports by TMZ, x-rated website CamSoda has actually made Ammirati a pretty hefty financial offer in the hope of 'collaborating' with him.
Daryn Parker - the vice president of the adults-only site told the US news outlet: "If it was up to me, I’d award you for what everyone else saw, your talent below the belt."
Speaking directly to the Frenchman, he added: "As a lover of crotch-centric activities, I'd love to offer you up to $250,000 in exchange for a 60-minute webcam show, in which you show off your goods, minus the crossbar, of course."
Has Anthony Ammirati spoken out?
Ammirati surprised fans by speaking about the mishap that cost him a medal - though he didn't speak directly about the footage which quickly spread like wildfire on social media.
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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."
He added: "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."
Jess Hardiman