Lucky charms: The rituals and superstitions of Olympic athletes
Cats, moustaches, underwear and socks – what do they have in common when you are preparing for the Games of your lives? Find out about the superstitions some Olympians have found useful while chasing glory on the biggest stage in winter sport.
Almost every winter sport is about controlling the friction, between the equipment you use and the ice or the snow. They require precision, determination and sometimes, improvisation. But for all the hard work it takes to win races or pull off acrobatic performances better than your rivals, things do not always unfold as expected.
That is probably why some of the top athletes tend to turn their attention to something inexplicable, even in crucial moments that may define their careers or even their lives. Join Olympics.com in finding out about the rituals and superstitions some Olympians turn to on their quests to make history at the Olympic Winter Games.
Body paint
At the Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 after a lucky cat drawn on her hand seemingly helped her win the big air competition, People’s Republic of China’s freestyle skier Eileen Gu told Olympics.com:
“I’m very superstitious. But I know that’s not the best thing for people to have when they compete. I was looking between my lucky symbols and calmed myself down… If I podium at the actual Olympics I’ll have the lucky cat tattooed.”
Now the time has come for the Chinese starlet to grab her chance to have her lucky charm tattooed, with a medal at Beijing 2022.
Czech Republic snowboarder Eva Samková is famous for drawing a fake moustache on her upper lip before going into crucial competitions. She has developed the habit since she participated in the 2011 FIS World Championship, where she finished in fifth place on her debut.
Three years later, she stood on top of the podium in snowboard cross at Sochi 2014 to win her country’s first gold medal of the Games – this time wearing a special moustache in the three colours of the Czech national flag: white, red and blue.
Mix and match
Speaking of colours, Kwak Yoongy, Republic of Korea’s short track speed skating team captain, knew exactly what colour would lead him to victories. Kwak once confessed that he had been obsessed with his underwear when preparing for big events. As a matter of fact, the 32-year-old had a sophisticated habit of arranging his underpants in various colours according to a week-long schedule leading up to the big day.
However, he was forced to give up the routine, as he needed to rearrange the order of the colours whenever the schedules changed. So Kwak has come up with a simple solution of wearing underpants which are always the same shape and colour, which is red.
Conversely, Italian speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida does not stick to one particular colour. She always changes her mind according to the situation, before carefully choosing what to wear under her suit.
“I choose my underwear according to the colours that have brought me luck in other races,” said the current Italian record holder in 3000m and 5000m, during a recent interview with Olympics.com. “But for each event – 1000, 1500 or 3000 metres – I have different colours. And to avoid clashes in some cases, I put on mismatched socks sometimes.”
Pre-competition rituals
Sometimes it also helps to have a ritual that you share with your teammates. When asked if she had a routine before the games, Alina Kovaleva, the skip of the ROC women’s curling team, told Olympics.com: “Yes, we have a team ritual before the games. We play with a little ball full of rice, which is called ‘socks’ [footbag circle kicking] – we kick it and then everyone goes to warm up, stretch and get ready for the game.”
“Whenever we went out early on the ice before the game, there were always 15-20 minutes left and we started kicking the mitten because there was nothing else to do. Then we decided that we needed special equipment – a ball that we would kick so as not to spoil our equipment. That’s why we decided to buy a pair of socks to play the game.”
Meanwhile, Hungarian short track skater Shaolin Sandor Liu went viral at PyeongChang 2018, when he introduced his signature entrance to the ice before the race: Touching his right eyebrow and then left with his right hand while staring at the camera, before winking with his right eye and smiling. It’s not clear whether this ritual was part of the reason for him winning a first-ever Olympic gold medal for Hungary, but Shaolin seems to believe in the power of his ‘Wink of Love’:
“I just did a little wink in the camera and everybody loved it! It gives me good luck. I win a lot of races with my luck.”