Olympic swimmer’s trunks left viewers in disbelief over unfortunate optical illusion
We’ve had a fair few shocking incidents in this year’s Olympics, from a commentator being fired for his ‘outrageous’ sexist comments to a Brazilian swimmer being sent home after an Olympic Village rule breach.
There was one jaw-dropping moment, however, that wasn’t quite as it initially seemed - thankfully.
It all kicked off online after a Dutch swimmer’s trunks left viewers in total disbelief at the unfortunate optical illusion.
What was wrong with Arno Kamminga’s trunks?
Olympian Arno Kamminga, 28, turned up to the pool for the 100m breaststroke final in a pair of particularly eye-catching trunks.
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You see, the shorts were mostly white with the orange and grey triangles dotted across them to form a spiral pattern.
Due to the colour choice of the shorts and the dotted pattern, it almost appeared as if Kamminga was wearing some pretty tight speedos.
Stunned viewers rushed to social media to share their reaction to the trunks with one X user writing: "IN PUBLIC? IS THIS LEGAL?"
Another said, confused: "I have a coupla questions..."
Kamminga's Dutch team-mate, Tessa Giele, could also be seen wearing the same pattern for her swimsuit as she lined up for the semi finals of the women's 100m butterfly.
How did Arno Kamminga do in the Olympics?
Unfortunately for Kamminga, he was unable to secure a gold medal and finished in sixth place as Nicolo Martinenghi, Adam Peaty and Nic Fink topped the leaderboard.
He finished with a time of 59.32 with Fink and Peaty scoring 59.05 while Martinenghi was 0.02 seconds ahead of the pair.
Kamminga was understandably gutted, sharing a photo of himself on the starting block before the race, captioning the snap with a broken-heart emoji.
"Not what I came for," he wrote.
Still, he had plenty of support from fans, who said he remained an ‘inspiration’ to sports lovers.
"You are a great athlete, despite the result you have shown how much you are worth and with this post you demonstrate how much commitment and passion you put into everything you do," one person commented, adding: "There will be other opportunities to rejoice and you will deserve them all Arno."
Hear, hear!
While Kamminga may not have gone home with any medals, at least he's had a taste of viral fame.
No doubt he'll be getting the call from SKIMS any moment now...
Topics: Olympics, Fashion, Social Media
Jess Hardiman