The French pole vaulter’s bulge costs him an Olympic medal

In addition to Leon Marchand, who won his fourth swimming gold medal yesterday, another French athlete, 21-year-old pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati, has become an instant viral phenomenon after an incident involving his groin.

Ammirati missed his target height and knocked over pole with his bulge on Saturday, missing out on his qualifying circuit for the final. The scene left commenters scrambling for words, but it quickly led to memes and jokes all over social media.

“When you’re about to win an Olympic medal but your huge cock gets in the way while the whole world watches in slow motion,” says one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote.

While social media is flooded with jokes about Ammirati’s crotch, French media are highlighting the unfortunate turn of fate for Ammirati, who will not get another chance to compete for a medal and has left the Olympics along with other French pole vaulters. But the viral scene provides some much-needed comic relief amid a series of controversies surrounding these Olympics, involving several people, including the event’s artistic director Thomas Jolly and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, a victim of online hate speech.

Overall, French athletes are flourishing at the Olympic Games with a total of 41 medals to date – 12 of which are gold medals. The French team is in second place on the medal table, behind China. Australia, the American and British teams come third, fourth and fifth respectively. Swimming champion Marchand alone has won four Olympic gold medals in the 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 evening.