Painter auctioning off work inspired by viral Olympic pole vaulter

Painting of France's Anthony Ammirati was sitting at $2,850 Tuesday morning

Cover Image for Painter auctioning off work inspired by viral Olympic pole vaulter
French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati went viral when an unfortunate part of his body hit the crossbar. (Credit: Getty Images)

Sweden's Mondo Duplantis once again broke the world record in the pole vault Monday, winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal.

But Duplantis' effort at the Summer Games isn't the most viral pole-vault highlight from Paris.

That would be the highlight of French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati, who was eliminated from competition after he cleared the crossbar on the way up, but his "manhood" got in the way on the way down.

Now, painter Dave Pollot, who adds a contemporary touch to old paintings, has painted Ammirati with his bulge bending the bottom of the frame.

Artist Dave Pollot has painted possibly the most viral moment from the Paris Olympics so far. (Credit: eBay)
Artist Dave Pollot has painted possibly the most viral moment from the Paris Olympics so far. (Credit: eBay)

Pollot has sent the item to auction on eBay, where it sits at $2,850 as of 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The auction will end at 7:39 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

"I was having a couple of frustrating days working on projects I didn't really want to work on," Pollot told cllct. "And my wife was like, 'Why don't you just paint something different?' And I went on the internet, and you could not avoid seeing this pole vaulter."

Pollot said he knew he wanted the bottom of the frame to appear like it was taking on weight, so he bent the frame down using a screw.

"That took longer than it took to paint the painting," Pollot admitted.

"Nuts" is the second painting Pollot has made inspired by a viral Olympics moment. Earlier in the Games, Pollot painted Yusuf Dikeç, the shooter from Turkey who won a silver in the 10-meter air pistol. Dikec went viral for his coolness — regular glasses, one hand in his pocket and no protection for his ears.

Pollot's painting, which featured Turkey's Dikeç shooting a turkey, was entitled "The Natural" and quickly sold for $3,200.

Ammirati is at least golden on social media. His Instagram followers rose from fewer than 6,000 followers before the event to 166,000 by Tuesday morning. He's still gaining roughly 1,000 followers per hour.

Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.