'Big disappointment': French pole vaulter's 'pole' knocks down crossbar at 2024 Paris Olympics
In pole vaulting, athletes must clear the crossbar without dislodging it. But at the 2024 Paris Olympics, France's representative had a mishap when his own "pole" apparently knocked down the crossbar.
A viral video on X showed Anthony Ammirati in the air and is about to clear his 5.70-meter target when his crotch hit the bar, sending it crashing down the mat.
"What happened here?" the commentator can be heard saying.
Anthony Ammirati failed the bar and the commentators are clearly having a hard time acknowledging what happened 😂 HELP I'M DYING pic.twitter.com/5hOHttVA5g
— Gladys Wotching (@Glodyswotcher) August 3, 2024
The video has garnered over 74,000 likes, 12,000 shares, 1,700 comments, 26,000 bookmarks, and 20.1 million views as of writing.
Ammirati, who's on his Olympic debut, ultimately placed 15th in the competition.
'Big disappointment'
Reacting to his viral performance, the athlete called the results a "big disappointment."
“I’m a bit gutted, because I didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70 m," he said in a statement sent to French Athletics Federation. "What I did miss was a bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings."
Ammirati noted that he was at his 100%, physically speaking, and that the conditions were good.
"It’s the first time I’ve started a competition without any stress," he said. "As I was a total outsider, I only had one goal: to play with the public. I was almost there."
The mishap became a hot topic on social media.
"He was a few inches short.... or a few inches long," one user said.
"I'm not sure if we should feel bad for him or proud for him!" another one commented.
Sweden's Mondo Duplantis, the world's no. 1 in men's pole vault, grabbed the gold at the competition. He also cleared 6.25m, breaking his own record. America's Sam Kendricks, the world's no. 3, finished with silver, while Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, the world's no. 8, got bronze.
The Philippines' EJ Obiena, the world's no. 2, missed all three tries at 5.95m, placing fourth in the tilt.