French Pole Vaulter Anthony Ammirati Breaks His Silence With Shocking Admission After Failing To Medal Because His Giant Bulge Got In The Way
French Pole Vaulter Anthony Ammirati Breaks His Silence With Shocking Admission After Failing To Medal Because His Giant Bulge Got In The Way
Anthony Ammirati (Photo by Getty Images)
French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati has admitted to being “disappointed” and “gutted” after having his own body sabotage him at the Olympic Games this weekend.
Ammirati cleared two bars before looking to vault himself over the 5.70-meter height and appeared to be well on his way, but his privates smacked the bar to take it down with him as he fell to the mat in a look of dejection.
He would finish 12th in his group and miss out on a chance to progress, which means he will not have an opportunity to win a medal.
Clips of the attempt went viral on social media, with users making all sorts of jokes about the hilarious mishap.
The Frenchman has since broken his silence, admitting his disappointment, and also revealing he was dealing with a hip injury.
“It’s a big disappointment,” he said, per The US Sun. “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 had to give up the last two, because after a small grade one in the adductor, I prioritised the race. I was 100 percent physically, but I was missing a bit… 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 play with the public. I was almost there.”
Anthony Ammirati, who is from Grasse in the French Riviera, is winning in other ways. Despite the loss, he is possibly the most famous pole vaulter in the world right now.
Since pulling a pole down at the games, he has gained over 66,000 followers on Instagram and is likely to attract plenty more.