Featured Image Credit: Olympics
Topics: Olympics, Athletics, Fan Reactions
Tom Jenkins
French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati has become an internet meme at the 2024 Paris Olympics after his crotch prevented him from completing his target height.
The 21-year-old did everything right and looked set to clear 5.70m until his 'manhood' clipped the bar denying him during his third attempt on Saturday.
Ammirati had already cleared two heights before the unfortunate incident affected his score, leading him to finish 12th with a height of 5.60 meters in Group A.
Due to the rather awkward nature of Ammirati's failure, the internet has been sent into stitches with hundreds taking to X to react to the incident.
One fan joked: "The best way to lose… man ego still there."
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"Suffering from success", another added.
A third fan noticed the commentary team's reluctance to address the incident: "The struggle to keep it professional when it's so painfully obvious is too real."
A fourth replied: "Imagine training for 4 years but you end up losing because your **** is too big.."
His compatriots, Robin Emig and Thibault Collet, recorded heights of 5.60 meters and 5.75 meters, respectively.
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Ammirati wasn’t the only debuting athlete to suffer a disappointing exit on Saturday, with British sprinter Jeremiah Azu disqualified without even getting the chance to race following a false start.
Azu spoke to BBC Sport following the heartbreaking incident.
"Honestly, I reacted to a sound. It's a shame, the crowd is so excited. The pole vault is going on and the French fans are in here," he explained.
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"It's a shame they didn't let me run under protest, I'm not sure what rule is being used.
"But they said I've got to go back and put an appeal in, so I'm going to go through the process and see what happens.
"I was saying I wanted to run under protest. Any other race they allow you to run and then after you review it, but I don't know, it's the Olympics so it's clearly different rules," he added.