Alberto Nonino was participating in a 400-meter race at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia when his shorts failed him as his genitalia kept popping out.
- Aug 6, 2022
AceShowbiz - An Italian runner has suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction during a race. Decathlon athlete Alberto Nonino admits he felt "terrible" after he accidentally exposed himself to the crowd mid-race.
The unexpected situation occurred while Nonino was participating in a 400-meter race at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia. The 18-year-old started strong, separating himself from the pack and entering the first bend in a good position to secure the race victory.
He, however, later started to slow off with cameras capturing Nonino adjusting and looking down at his shorts, only to realize that his shorts had failed him. The decathlete struggled to shield his private part using his hands to no avail.
Sports journalist David Sanchez de Castro tweeted of the incident, "Perhaps I've explained myself poorly. 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."
"He desperately tried to rectify the issue as his legs pounded the pavement, however it seems like nothing worked," reported the website Sports Bible. Nonino ended up clocking 51.57 seconds and finished last in the race.
Following the incident, Nonino took to his Instagram account to explain what happened at the race. "I just want to talk to you a little bit about what is going on in blogs and social media. I am aware of the situation and it was obviously an accident," he wrote on his Story.
Trying to keep a positive attitude, he admitted, "I am trying to laugh about it right now, but I felt terrible immediately after the race and I'm thankful to my friends and family for helping me get over what happened a few hours later."
Nonino also took a swipe at the media which published reports of the incident, which could be devastating to someone, who is not as resilient as himself. "The journalistic world worries about cases of bullying throughout Italy and around the world and then publishes these articles that for a more sensitive person could have done a lot of harm," he added.
