SPORTS stars will do anything for a win.
Many have worked years for their moment, training hard, and psyching themselves up before they go out to a crowd to put on a show.
But, before they do so, some believe will give them that extra edge to perform.
That’s where the below come in. These sports stars have/had some incredible rituals that they believed would help them get over the line.
SunSport rounds up sports stars’ craziest superstitions
John Terry
Before he used to take the pitch at Stamford Bridge, would pee in the same urinal in the dressing room.
Amusingly, Terry did it once and the Blues won the game. Then, team-mates and Frank Lampard got in on the act, sometimes delaying the team walking out on the pitch.
Terry told us: “Me and Frank started it a long time ago; in the Chelsea dressing room we have three urinals and me and Lamps started weeing in one. We won the game and that was it.
“The next week there was a queue of me, Frank and Ash. The next week there were four of us and the week after there were five. Even now, up until today, you have Cesar Azpilicueta and Cesc Fabregas, we are all there in one big queue.
“A few months ago the club secretary said to me: ‘we have had a few calls from the FA complaining because we have been going out late’ and I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was because we were all waiting to go for a wee.”
Sergio Goycochea
Staying on the peeing theme, Goycochea took his business outside of the changing rooms and certainly marked his territory.
Incredibly, before penalty shootouts the nutty sweeper keeper would relieve himself in his penalty area.
He said: “I did it against Yugoslavia (in the 1990 World Cup quarter-finals) – we won, so then when the semi-final against Italy went to penalties I did it again – and it worked!
“From that moment on I did it before every shoot-out. It was my lucky charm.”
Goran Ivanisevic
In 2001, wildcard in one of the most remarkable sports stories of our times.
He did it with the help of several rituals, including watching Tinky Winky and Co of Teletubbies fame before his matches.
The Croatian told The Independent : “My coach one day said, ‘You have to watch this, this is so funny’.
“And I won my match that day. So then I couldn’t stop. My favourite was the purple one, Tinky Winky.”
Andre Agassi
Continuing the tennis theme, let it all hang loose with his superstition.
From the 1999 French Open onwards, he decided to ditch underwear after forgetting to pack some before a match.
Agassi explained: “I got to the locker room and realised I’d forgotten my underwear.
“What can a man do? I just commandoed it. After that it was a case of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. It actually feels good.”
Jason Terry
legend Terry had his own unique way of prepping for games.
It all unfolded before the NCAA national championship game between Terry’s Arizona Wildcats and the University of Kentucky.
After having trouble sleeping at night, he decided to put on his full kit for bedtime.
Terry said: “The next day, we ended up winning the national championship. After that, I was like, ‘OK, I think I’m superstitious and I need to keep this thing going.’”
Serena Williams
female tennis player of all time risked athlete’s foot with this superstition.
Serena was reportedly known to wear the same unwashed socks during a tournament.
She also made sure to use the same shower, it is believed.
Presumably, to give those feet a good scrub.
Kolo Toure
The had a strict pre-match superstition where he insisted on being the absolute last player from his team to step onto the pitch.
However, that got him into bother during a Champions League last-16 tie against Roma at the Emirates.
Amusingly, the match began without him. Realising his error, he scuttled on as quickly as he could.
But, that only got him in trouble with the referee for entering the field without permission and earned the defender a yellow card.
Mariafe Artacho del Solar
Aussie volleyball star Mariafe Artacho Del Solar lost an earring during her opening match against Cuba at .
But, rather than replace it, she viewed it as a lucky omen and played the rest of the tournament wearing just one earring.
“Earrings are like my undies,” she joked.
“I can’t leave home without them.”
Marta Kostyuk
Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid in May came courtesy of a laundry mix-up and some lucky pants.
As she explained to Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus.: “We have a tournament laundry service and sometimes the clothes get mixed up and last year we ended up with this piece of underwear where in it was written ‘Lucky Shorts’. So we kept it.
“My coach Sandra (Zaniewska) kept it as a lucky charm.”
added: “We made this promise that if I’d win we would bring the ‘Lucky Shorts’ for the photoshoot with the trophy.” And, she didn’t disappoint parading the pants, in all their glory, as she did a backflip on the court.
