The good news for French diver Alexis Jandard is that his blunder on the board didn’t happen at the Paris Olympics this coming summer.
The bad news is that it happened in front of his country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, while opening the Olympic pool on Friday.
And at least the 2022 World Aquatics Championships silver medalist was in good humour about the whole situation.
During the unveiling of the new Aquatics Centre in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, Jandard was taking part in a demonstration along with two other divers while attempting a synchronized jump.
However, while the other two divers had no issues, Jandard slipped after his initial bounce, fell onto his lower back and then tumbled flipping backwards into the pool below.
Thankfully, the water as just three metres below the board and the only thing that Jandard hurt was his pride.
“I want to reassure you right away, there is no problem,” he told French outlet RMC Sport. “Everything is fine. I didn’t hurt myself, these are things that happen, unfortunately.”
Despite having such a distinguished audience at the event, Jandard was able to joke about the slip.
“I’ve broken boards before, but the board has never broken me before,” he said.
“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.”
When asked if he spoke with the other divers about the viral mishap, he said he was just happy the others did well
“We tried to be together, but in the end, things fell apart,” he said. “I wanted to follow but I made a mistake. It’s like that. At least they did well. There weren’t three that fell at once because the strike.
“It’s OK, we’re breaking the Internet.”
The Aquatics Centre is the only permanent structure that has been newly constructed for this summer’s Olympics in Paris, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11. The building will host the diving, water polo and synchronized swimming events and can fit 5,000 spectators.
Jandard likely will be hoping for a better showing when it really counts.