French pole vaulter breaks silence after ‘bulge’ ended his Olympic dream

French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati has broken his silence after it appeared his bulge put an end to his Olympic hopes.

Ammirati went viral after a clip of his third pole vault attempt appeared to show him almost clearing the 5.7-metre bar, only for his own genitals to get caught on it, bringing the bar down.

The 21-year-old Frenchman has now spoken about the disappointment of missing out on a medal in his home Olympic games.

“It’s a big disappointment,” he told the French Athletics Federation. “I’m a bit gutted because I didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70m. What I did miss was a bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings. Just a technical session.”

Ammirati didn’t specifically address the fact he was going viral for his manhood and instead lamented on the fact he was feeling stress-free and “100 per cent physically” before participating.

“I was 100 per cent physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault,” Ammirati explained. “The conditions were good. It’s the first time I’ve started a competition without any stress. As I was a total outsider, I only had one goal: to interact with the audience. I was almost there.”

Ammirati finished 12th in Group A, meaning he missed out on a place in the finals. While he may not have put in his best sporting performance, he gained viral fame and a whole host of new fans on Instagram in the process.

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