Where does security come from when everything around you is new, exciting and strange? The Olympians from Germany rely on tried and tested procedures, routines and lucky charms before their competitions. One or the other weird quirk is also there.
Nobody wants to get up on the wrong leg before an important competition – especially the Olympic Games. Turner Lukas Dauser’s trick? “I get up with both legs at the same time in the morning.” Rituals and quirks like these are important to many athletes, and lucky charms also play a role in building confidence before stepping into the limelight. The German Press Agency shows a selection from the German Olympic team:
ORDER I: For Turner Lukas Dauser, the matter is far from over after getting up with both legs. The day before he starts shaving so that he doesn’t have to do it before a competition. “I live by the motto: if you shave, you lose,” he says. Half an hour before he gets into the gym, he has a cup of coffee, which gives him a feeling of security. His flip-flops also play a role. He always places them exactly parallel on the way to the device. “These are such little games that I play with myself on competition day.”
Roaring and pounding on the chest
ORDER II: The show jumpers rely on a coordinated outfit for the right team feeling. “In order to create a feeling of togetherness, we put on uniform T-shirts from our team clothing every morning. We already did that in Rio. I always send a photo to our group in the evening, which color it will be the next day is “, says jumping national trainer Otto Becker.
INCANTATION: On the way to her bronze fight, judoka Anna-Maria Wagner vigorously hit her chest and shouted: “My medal!”. To do this, she looked up. “That gives me self-confidence. At that moment I just reel off everything I want to deliver on the mat right away. The look up goes to my grandma. I know that she is always there and follows my competitions from above. It is just the conviction to go on the mat now and kill everyone. ” It worked.
LUCKY LUCKY I: 19-year-old swimmer Isabel Gose recently started her races with a unicorn. “My mom is crocheting. At the moment she is in full unicorn fever and is crocheting lots of little unicorns,” says Gose. “She made little unicorns for me and my friend Lukas Märtens before the qualifying competitions and we always have them with us now.”
LUCKY LUCKY II: Flag bearer Patrick Hausding also trusts the power of a lucky charm: “I have had a cuddly toy for some time, a rooster that my girlfriend gave me. And my father often gave me four-leaf clover laminated. It often worked.”
A tattoo on the middle finger
LUCKY LUCKY III: Discus thrower Daniel Jasinski has notes and pictures of his children and his wife in his suitcase at every competition. This time the 31-year-old got three lucky streaks stuck on pieces of paper along with congratulations.
MEMORY: Lara Lessmann witnessed the Olympic premiere of BMX Freestyle in Tokyo. She has a tattoo on her left middle finger that says “Just courage”: “You need a lot of courage for my sport. That reminds me again and again that you should just do it and not regret anything.”
ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROUTINE: For beach volleyball Olympic champion Laura Ludwig and her partner Margareta Kozuch, the processes before the competition are important. “Basically these are just routines, there are so many. We pack our bags together, it’s a very nice ritual. Before we forget something, you are normally a little nervous and nervous.”
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
