The Paris Summer Olympics gave us dozens of “thrill of victory” scenes, but along with the overjoyed winners were heartbroken athletes whom fate did not smile upon at the critical moment.
Here are some of the worst mishaps that occurred during the 2024 games, from tumbles to stumbles — to pesky bacteria.
A punishing pole vault
We hardly need to explain how Anthony Ammirati failed to clear the horizontal bar since his unfortunate crotch shot was seen around the world… in countless instant replays and memes. His Olympic dreams may have been thwarted, but his Internet fame was forever secured in that moment.
Painful pile-up during men’s 500m
Several runners fell during the disastrous pile-up on Aug. 7, which saw not one but two chaotic heats. In the first heat, four men went down in a chain-reaction fall, causing a commentator to say, “We are hands on heads in shock.” In the next round, U.S. runner Abdihamid Nur went down and a cameraman got too close to the action when he stepped onto the track.
Crash at the Women’s Keirin Quarter finals
Chinese cyclist Liying Yuan had to be helped off the track on Thursday after causing a multi-bike crash. The accident began when she tried to pass Dutch rider Steffie van der Peet in a move that brought them both down, as well as Nicky Degrendele of Belgium. According to the Associated Press, Van der Peet was left with “a shredded skinsuit and bloody burns.”
Sickened by the Seine?
Several triathletes who swam in the Seine later suffered gastrointestinal issues, although no one could directly attribute their illnesses to their dip in the famous French river — which had just undergone a €1.4 billion cleanup, according to The Washington Post.
The water quality was in flux throughout the games, with swimming canceled on days when tests indicated a high presence of bacteria. Among those who were sickened were Portuguese triathletes Vasco Vilaça and Melanie Santos, as well as Adrien Briffod of Switzerland. Belgian athlete Claire Michel, meanwhile, attributed her sickness to a virus.
Gymnastics judging controversy
Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu’s scores earned the 18-year-old a bronze medal on Aug. 5 … until a coach for U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles successfully appealed the judges to bump up Chiles’ score, giving her the bronze instead. Barbosu burst into tears when she saw the revised scores.
The reversal was condemned by both Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, who chose to boycott the closing ceremony over the “dishonorable” decision, and Olympic great Nadia Comăneci, who wrote on X: “I can’t believe we play with athletes’ mental health and emotions like this.”
Chiles’ win was later reversed and it appeared she may be stripped of her bronze medal. However, the U.S. has protested once more and produced video showing that their appeal, which the sports court body had ruled was submitted too late, was actually submitted right on time. What happens next for Chiles, Barbosu and that bronze medal remains to be seen.
Relay
Team U.S. relay runners Kenny Bednarek, Christian Coleman, Kyree King and Fred Kerley finished in seventh place on Aug. 2 and were ultimately disqualified for what was deemed to be an illegal baton handoff.
Past Olympian Carl Lewis called the mishap “unacceptable” and called for major changes to the track team’s strategy.
High jumper loses wedding ring, nearly misses the Games completely
Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi, who was the flag bearer for Team Italy during the opening ceremonies on the Seine, later shared that he lost his wedding ring in the famous river.
He wrote a moving apology to his wife Chiara, in which he said the ring “will stay forever in the riverbed of the city of love … I think there might be a huge poetic side to yesterday’s misdeed, and if you want, we’ll throw yours into that river, too, so they’ll be together forever.” He added that it would be a perfect excuse to “renew our vows and get married anew.”
Tamberi was later forced to the sidelines after suffering from a high fever and apparent kidney stone, as he shared on Instagram, but returned in time to compete in his category.
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