Featured Image Credit: Olympic feed/Elsa/Getty Images
Topics: Olympics, Social Media, Sport, Twitter, Viral
Alex Maxam
Topics: Olympics, Social Media, Sport, Twitter, Viral
Paris 2024 Olympics viral pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati has received some helpful - albeit joking - advice from Serena Williams' former coach.
On Saturday (August 3), the French athlete competed in the men's pole vault qualification, however, unfortunately, he lost out on a spot in the Olympic finals.
Ammirati successfully cleared the 5.40 meters and 5.60 meters, however, when it came to the 5.70 meters, something ended up getting in his way.
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Rather than it being the pole, mat or a distraction in the crowds which thwarted the athlete's chances at qualifying for a medal, it was actually his own body which got in the way - his lower region not quite making it past the bar, clipping it and ultimately bringing it down.
As you can imagine, it didn't take long for the internet to erupt.
"Anthony Ammirati failed the bar and the commentators are clearly having a hard time acknowledging what happened. I'M DYING," one Twitter user wrote.
Another added: "Loses vault. Wins internet."
And who should now weigh in online but former coach of fellow Olympian Serena Williams with some teasing - yet practical - although slightly random advice.
Rennae Stubbs was tennis star Williams' coach for the 2022 US Open during her final grand slam tournament.
A user shared footage of Ammirati's vault with the comment: "When your pole is too big for the pole vault."
And Stubbs reshared the post, adding a response: "Seriously!!! When your sport is all about getting your body over a bar and it’s a matter of millimeters! My man! Call a drag queen! She’ll teach u how to tuck it! This is unbelievable!"
And it's not taken long for Olympics fans to weigh in.
A user said: "What an odd thing to post."
"I… didn’t expect this response from you. But… I RT’d it so fast," another added.
A third commented: "Right! Or even just an extra spandex brief. Geez!"
"Lol rennae. Gold suggestion," a fourth wrote.
And a final resolved: "Petition to have Stubbsy commentate all sporting events moving forward."
After his NSFW incident took place, Ammirati told the French Athletics Federation he was 'gutted' to miss out on a spot in the finals 'because [he] didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70 m' and was '100 percent physically', however, he did miss a 'bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings'.
He added: "I’m just glad I can make people smile and laugh. And who knows, maybe this will be the start of something amazing!"