The French pole vaulter who failed to capture a medal at the Paris Olympics after his bulging genitals hit the bar has spoken out for the first time since going viral, calling the moment a “big disappointment.”

Over the weekend, French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati became a viral sensation when his bulge hit the bar, thereby ending his chances for a medal. As Breitbart News reported:

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.

The situation sparked an array of memes and jokes online, arguably making Ammirati one of the biggest viral sensations of the Olympics behind Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec.

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

Keeping in with the ongoing double entendres, Ammirati called it a “big disappointment.”

“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 5.70 m. What I did miss was a bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings.”

“I was 100% physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault. The conditions were good,” Ammirati added. “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 play with the public. I was almost there.”

As noted by Variety, French media has been less jocular about Ammirati’s situation and have reported he will not have another chance to compete for a medal and that he has exited the Olympics. France, the host country, has thus far won 41 medals thus far, 12 of which being gold.

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.