This French Diver Slipped And Bounced Into The Water At A Ceremony And Even He Thought It Was Funny
“For your information, my back is fine, but my ego…”
Alexis Jandard, a French Olympic diver, experienced a mishap during the unveiling of the newly built Olympic Aquatic Center in Paris when he unexpectedly slipped and bounced off the diving board.
On Thursday, April 5th, French President Emmanuel Macron officially opened the new €180 million Aquatics Centre, located in Paris, ahead of the Olympics, which will be held in Paris later this year.
As part of the opening ceremony, the 26-year-old diver, a silver medalist in the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, was supposed to perform a somersault into the pool alongside two other athletes.
Jandard was seen hopping lightly on his three-meter springboard before making an uneasy landing on his right foot.
He appeared to struggle with his balance and then fell onto his lower back while his fellow divers, completed their routine.
Taking the fall in stride, Jandard shared a photo of his reddened back on his Instagram story with the caption “j’ai glissé chef” (“I slipped, chief”), which is a reference to an old French movie series, “La Septième Compagnie,” in which a soldier often slips and falls.
“For your information, my back is fine, but my ego…” Jandard wrote on his Instagram…“I fell in front of the president. I fell in front of the whole of France,” he wrote and jokingly asked his followers to tease him about the incident. “Honestly, I really deserve it.”
Jandard told French publication RMC Sport, “Everything is fine. I didn’t hurt myself, these are things that happen unfortunately. It came at a time when I wasn’t expecting it at all. These are things that happen but don’t usually happen to me. I’ve broken boards before but the board has never broken me before.”
He also explained why he lost his balance, saying, “I arrived on my support and my leg gave out. I didn’t slip or anything. Afterwards I fell on the board. It’s non-slip and what’s more, the board was new, beautiful, and I think there’s still my back on the board there. Small hazards.”
“Plus it was live so obviously we ended up like that. It’s a shame but it’s funny. When you take a step back, it’s funny,” Jandard added.
Jandard, who has qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, also competed in the men’s three-meter springboard event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Last year, he won a bronze medal in the 3-meter synchronized springboard event at the World Aquatics Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan.
The new Aquatics Centre, designed to accommodate 5,000 spectators, is the only permanent sports facility built specifically for the Paris Olympics. The newly constructed venue will feature water polo, diving, and synchronised swimming activities, as well as Paralympic swimming events.
Macron, speaking at the ceremony, praised the efforts behind the new facility’s construction, saying “There is a great human chain that has made it possible to build this center.”
