(HorizonPost.com) – Olympic diver Alexis Jandard suffered a scraped back and bruised ego after he slipped on the diving board in front of a group of VIPs that included French President Emmanuel Macron during the grand opening of the Olympic Aquatics Center in Paris, CBS News reported.
The $160 million Olympic Aquatics Center is the only permanent facility constructed for this summer’s Paris Olympic Games. It seats about 5,000 and will host swimming, diving, and water polo competitions during the games that kick off on July 26.
During the April 4 grand opening ceremony, Jandard, along with other French divers, participated in an event to showcase the skills and talents of the French Olympic dive team. The participants showed off their skills by diving from the 10-meter board nearly 33 feet above the water.
When Jandard stepped onto the lower board, he slipped and landed sideways on the board before dropping into the pool.
The 26-year-old French athlete responded to his embarrassing pratfall with good humor, posting a picture on Instagram showing the scrapes on his back, saying, “J’ai glissé chef” (“I slipped, boss”).
Jandard said his back was fine, but could not say the same for his ego after falling “in front of the whole of France” and the French president. He said on Instagram that while he had broken boards, he never had a board break him.
The diver suggested that it would have been better if the event had gone without a hitch but “if it made people smile a little, so much the better.”
Jandard said that his injuries were minor, with only “a little blood” but nothing serious. He planned to be back at training that afternoon.
Jandard participated in the men’s 3-meter springboard event at the Toyko Summer Olympics and will be competing in the same event in Paris.
The Paris Olympic Games will run from July 26 through August 11.
The opening ceremonies, the first not to be held in a stadium, will include a 90-boat flotilla down the Seine, according to NBC News.
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