Apart from Leon Marchand, who clinched his fourth swimming gold medal yesterday, one other French athlete, 21-year-old pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati, has grow to be an fast viral phenomenon after an incident involving his crotch.
Ammirati missed his goal height and knocked down the pole with his bulge on Saturday, which caused him to fail his qualifying track for the ultimate. The scene left commentators scrambling to search out words however it quickly sparked memes and jokes throughout social media.
“While you’re about to win an Olympic medal but your massive d*ck gets in the best way while the entire world watches in slow motion,” one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote.
While social media has been flooded with jokes over Ammirati’s crotch, French outlets are highlighting the unlucky accident for Ammirati who won’t have one other probability to compete for a medal and has exited the Olympics, together with other French pole vaulters. However the viral scene is providing needed comedic relief amid a series of controversies surrounding these Olympic Games, which have seen several people, including the event’s artistic director Thomas Jolly and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, victim of online hate speech.
Overall, French athletes are thriving on the Olympics with a complete of 41 medals to this point — 12 of that are gold medals. The French team is rating second on the medal table behind China. Australia, the U.S. and U.K. teams are taking third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Swimming champion Marchand alone has won 4 Olympic Golds in Men’s individual medley, butterfly and breaststroke. Other winning French Olympians include heavyweight judoka Teddy Riner, who took his third Olympic individual gold medal on Friday night.
