Talk about dropping the ball...
You ever have one of those days at work where you're just trying to do your best but your junk won't stay in your shorts? No?
Us neither, but Italian runner Alberto Nonino had exactly that kind of day recently, unfortunately.
During the 400-meter event at last week's World Athletics U20 Championship in Cali, Columbia, Nonino suffered from repeated wardrobe malfunctions when practically from the moment he got off the blocks he struggled to keep mini-Nonino safely stowed.
It resulted in him coming in last in the event. But while it may have lost him the race, it has won him the attention of the internet, so at least there's that.
See Nonino in blue shorts, struggle mightily with his, uh, racing baton below.
\u201cMundial de atletismo sub20, Cali (Colombia). \u00daltima serie de los 400 metros del decatl\u00f3n.\n\nEl italiano Alberto Nonino (18 a\u00f1os), por la calle cinco, empieza muy bien pero acaba entrando \u00faltimo. \n\nIba con la minga fuera. Literalmente #WorldAthleticsU20\u201d— David S\u00e1nchez de Castro (@David S\u00e1nchez de Castro) 1659523845
Nonino started off with a respectable lead against most of his fellow competitors, but was quickly and repeatedly stymied by whatever was going on in his shorts, eventually resorting to just holding it in his hand while he tried to run.
As Spanish sports journalist David Sanchez de Castro described it while sharing footage of the mishap:
"His penis escaped out of the side of his shorts and he had to hold it because it wasn’t allowing him to run properly which is normal when your dongle is swinging from side to side."
Absolutely true. If we all had a nickle for every time our dongles escaped our shorts while going for a jog, well...
Of course, Twitter had an absolute field day cutting up about this incident.
\u201cThis is why I had to give up running. Tripped over mine a fair few times\u201d— J.name\u00ae (@J.name\u00ae) 1659943073
\u201cwho\u2019s the cameraman bruh\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\u201d— b (@b) 1659818083
\u201c@TT0121 Glad he didn't come first\u201d— TONYINBHAM (@TONYINBHAM) 1659710766
\u201c@TT0121 He\u2019s clearly cheating. He has a third leg\u201d— TONYINBHAM (@TONYINBHAM) 1659710766
\u201c@JamaicaObserver Really he should have just gone balls out and won!!\u201d— Jamaica Observer (@Jamaica Observer) 1659721815
\u201c\ud83d\ude33\ud83d\ude33\ud83d\ude33 now the question is\u2026do you feel sorry for him, or, think\u2026good for him? \ud83e\udd23\ud83d\ude02\ud83e\udd23\ud83d\ude02 https://t.co/dSOHYfuLJV\u201d— T*M*M*\u2665\ufe0f\ud83d\udd4a (@T*M*M*\u2665\ufe0f\ud83d\udd4a) 1659729342
\u201cIs that the relay baton? \ud83e\udd23 \nItalian decathlete's Alberto Nonino race is ruined when he has to cover his genitals with his hand after he competed without underwear...and kept popping out of his shorts \ud83d\ude31 https://t.co/jYH1wcyBJd\u201d— \ua9c1\u0f3a\ud835\udc15\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc24\ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc1a\u0f3a\ua9c2 (@\ua9c1\u0f3a\ud835\udc15\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc24\ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc1a\u0f3a\ua9c2) 1659723620
\u201cNobody:\n\nMe to #albertononino : Hey bighead. Wyd?\u201d— Yo Favorite Hauntie \ud83d\udc7b (@Yo Favorite Hauntie \ud83d\udc7b) 1659734799
\u201cjust learned about that runner whose junk kept popping out during his track race. obviously he wins the dickathlon.\n\n#AlbertoNonino\u201d— \ud83d\ude37Stop Touching Your Face! \ud83d\ude37 (@\ud83d\ude37Stop Touching Your Face! \ud83d\ude37) 1659858278
\u201cAnyone got Alberto Nonino\u2019s phone number idk\u201d— Miguel C. (@Miguel C.) 1659969261
In an Instagram post, Nonino said he "felt terrible" in the aftermath of the embarrassing situation but that he is trying to see the humor in the situation now that the initial shock has passed.
Let this be a lesson to us all that no matter how bad our day at work may be, it could always be worse.
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
