Battle of the Bulge

A French pole vaulter walked away from the Olympics empty-handed because his pole malfunctioned.  Anthony Ammirati, a prominent French pole vaulter, was jumping in his first heat at the Paris Olympics.  While he expected to sail over the bar and land a spot in the final, he ended up catching his smaller vaulting pole on the crossbar.  Commentators were at a complete loss for words in describing the unfortunate mishap. 

Footage of Ammirati accidentally knocking off the bar with his crotch is understandably getting a lot of  media coverage. The Frenchman was attempting to qualify for the pole vaulting final at Stade de France but won the internet instead. Video shows him first hitting the bar with his leg and then dislodging it completely with his package on the way down.  Believe it or not, Ammirati isn’t the first Olympian to have done this. Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita also banged the bar loose with his leg and privates at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Following the viral moment, the 21-year-old Frenchman admitted his frustration at missing out on a medal, albeit without directly referencing his unfortunate mishap.  "It’s a big disappointment," Ammirati 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."  He then added: 'I was 100 percent physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault."  If only he was missing his 'bits' on his last vault!