Meet Anthony Ammirati: The French ‘bulge guy’ Olympian who just went viral for his pole

Pole VAULTING, that is – get your head out the gutter

4 months ago | UPDATED 3 weeks ago

Unless you live under an Olympic pool sized rock, you might have noticed that over the weekend a certain pole vaulting Olympian went a bit viral after he lost out on a gold medal when his package whacked the pole. It was an iconic moment of the Olympics in Paris so far, but who is the man behind the bulge we’ve all watched get eliminated in circumstances you simply could not make up? Meet Anthony Ammirati, the 2024 Olympics pole vaulter behind the viral bulge mishap.

He’s 21 and from Grasse

Maybe I am just unskilled at guessing ages but I was totally shocked to learn Anthony Ammirati is only 21 – and he hails from Grasse in France. His Insta says he’s track and field, but he’s always been renowned for his skills with pole vaulting.

He hasn’t always lost via mishaps

Ammirati has won two gold medals before – and has set a national record with his pole vaulting. In 2021, he set the under 20 record in Salon-de-Provence and that same year won the gold medal for a 5.64m vault. In 2022 he broke the junior pole vault record for a THIRD time. Addicted to breaking records. Kind of a major slay, actually.

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His Insta is full of, well, pole vaulting

As it is his trade, that’s what you’re getting. There are some really cool videos of him practicing which to be honest, unless you’re really into the specific event you probably don’t pay much attention to normally. As a casual viewer I just see them go for it on the day at the Olympics, so it’s cool to see Anthony Ammirati posting montages of him practicing.

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A post shared by Antho️️ny Ammirati | Track & Field (@anthony_ammirati)

He’s a qualified police officer?

Random one, but when he’s not pole vaulting he’s a cop. Anthony Ammirati qualified last year as a reserves police officer.

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A post shared by Antho️️ny Ammirati | Track & Field (@anthony_ammirati)

Loves a holiday

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A post shared by Antho️️ny Ammirati | Track & Field (@anthony_ammirati)

He’s just like me! Except I’ve never been to Colombia or looked this fit.

Has Anthony Ammirati said anything about THAT viral Olympics pole moment?

Following his disqualification 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. Just a technical session. I was 100 per cent physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault. 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.