Italian Olympian Gianmarco Tamberi arrived in Paris with plans to defend his gold medal in the men’s high jump final, but instead he made headlines with a streak of bad luck.

Just hours before Tamberi was due to compete in the final, he announced that he was in an ambulance on the way to the emergency room after “vomiting blood” twice.

“I dreamed of everything for this day, except for experiencing such a nightmare… 😔,” the high jumper wrote on Instagram next to a photo showing him in the ambulance, clutching someone’s hand.

Tamberi headed to the hospital about six hours after telling his 1.1 million Instagram followers that he woke up with kidney stones, complaining that although five hours had passed, “the pain is still not over.”

Tamberi eventually made it to the Olympics, where he finished 11th in the team 12 final, failing all three attempts to clear the competition’s second height before hanging his head in defeat.

A day before his devastating dethronement, he sent a positive message to his fans about how much defending his place on the podium meant to him.

“Tomorrow at 7pm the race of my life will take place,” he wrote. “Just over 24 hours to go until what I will remember with all my heart for the rest of my life as one of the best nights ever!”

The fact that Tamberi’s dreams of a podium finish have been shattered is all the more heartbreaking, as he was already devastated when he lost his wedding ring in the Seine during the opening ceremony on July 26.

“I love you, my love ❤️,” he wrote in an apology to his wife. “May it be a good omen that you return home with even greater gold.”

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