Oleg Verniaiev is one of the best male gymnasts in the world. In Rio, the Ukrainian nearly defeated Kohei Uchimura, the greatest male gymnast of all-time, for the Olympic all-around gold. And he’s looking to be an early favorite for the world title at the upcoming world championships in Montreal.
But even the very best gymnasts can do things worthy of a guest spot on Ukraine’s Funniest Home Videos. (Is that a show? It should be. I’d watch it.) At the recent World University Games, Verniaiev was performing on the parallel bars—an apparatus on which he is the defending Olympic champion—and landed groin first on top of a rail.
Verniaiev, looking quite pained, jumped down from the apparatus immediately. But since he was the one to post the video to his own Instagram account, he must find it at least a little funny.
I ran Verniaiev’s caption through Google translate and it came back with, “P.S. Girls, do not worry. Everything is left whole.”
In that case, there’s some hope for the future of Ukrainian gymnastics.
H/t Gymcastic