Pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati missed out on a chance to win an Olympic medal when his crotch got caught on the crossbar.
Ammirati, 21, had his qualifying track and field heat on Saturday, August 3. As he went to clear the crossbar, Ammirati couldn’t quite make it over. His penis (through his shorts) caught on the bar and he fell to the ground instead of making it over as intended.
After four attempts on the pole vault, Ammirati finished with a combined score of 5.60 and in 12th position, meaning he did not qualify for the next round of the competition and the chance to compete for a medal. Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis tied for first. Sam Kendricks, the United States’ entrant, finished in seventh. There will be a second heat before the finals.
The men’s pole vault was Ammirati’s only event at the 2024 Olympics. He previously came in second place at the 2022 Mediterranean Games and in first at that year’s World Athletics U20 Championships.
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Ammirati has been training since childhood.
“I started pole vaulting at 12 because a girl in my club was doing it. I saw her jump and absolutely wanted to try it,” he wrote via Instagram in May 2023.
Ammirati previously trained in Clermont-Ferrand starting in 2021 before joining the Envol Club last year. Envol was founded by Olympian Renaud Lavillenie.
“I was fortunate to have an excellent mentor, Gérard Vialette, who once told me, ‘Listen, Anthony, I have nothing more to teach you. You need to go to the best; there’s no one better than Philippe d’Encausse,’” Ammirati told France’s La Montagne newspaper in February.
The 2024 Paris Olympics was Ammirati’s first time at the Games.
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“A childhood dream coming true. Officially selected for my first Olympic games in Paris ❤️,” he wrote via Instagram last month before the opening ceremony. “What better than making them at home 🇫🇷. A big thank you to the whole team that accompanies me every day in my struggles! We did it 🤩.”
Two days before his qualifying heat, Ammirati was ready to hit the field.
“Safely arrived at the Olympic village :). Saturday the hostilities start with the qualifying competition at 10:10,” he captioned a Thursday, August 1, Instagram snap. “Can’t wait to jump with the encouragement of the French audience.”
Professional cheerleader Aleksandr Dissan commented at the time, “Thank you for showing the world how HARD pole vaulting can be!”