Rio Olympics 2016: French fencer drops phone during event

Peter Joppich of Germany competes with of Enzo Lefort France in the men's individual foil fencing event. photo / AP

Most people can't imagine leaving the house without having their mobile phone on them.

And French fencer Enzo Lefort must have been so worried about missing any calls or text messages that he tucked his device in his back pocket despite taking part in an Olympic bout.

But the 24-year-old was left red-faced after it fell out of his trousers and skidded across the floor during his individual foil match with Germany's Peter Joppich.

The French and German fighters were pitted against each other during the fight at the Carioca Arena in Rio on Sunday and immediately began lunging at each other during their qualifying match.

Lefort's mobile phone was spotted tucked away in his back pocket as the pair continued to advance on one another.

However, after a particularly cunning move by Joppich, he won the point, sending the Frenchman stumbling over his feet.

But that was the least of Lefort's embarrassment, as his phone came free from his back pocket and fell out on to the piste.

And after catching his bearings, Lefort quickly picked up the phone and passed it to a man waiting in the crowd, hoping nobody would notice.

However, he was unable to recover from his blundering moment as he lost the match 15-13 to Joppich, who was then beaten in the next round.

However, the French competitor will be hoping to be more successful in the men's team foil quarter finals on Friday when the side take on China.

Lefort is currently part of the French foil team that are the World and European champions, while he picked up a bronze medal in the individual event at the Fencing World Championships in 2014.

He was inspired to take up fencing at the age of five after watching his hero Laura Flessel win gold for France in the sport at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.