Mom's Ashes and Other Odd Olympic Traditions

U.S. Olympic volleyball star Misty May-Treanor wanted her mom with her at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Since her mom had died from cancer two years before, May’s father brought her ashes in a small bottle to Greece. After May’s gold medal win, the athlete sprinkled her mom’s ashes on the outdoor volleyball court, believing that’s where her mom would want to be.
 

Interesting.
 

Now it’s 2008 and May is back at it, fiercely taking on competitors with partner Kerri Walsh, and you better believe her mom is there. And if May wins gold? She’s planning on sprinkling a few more ashes.
 

This got me thinking about other Olympic athletes’ rituals, traditions and superstitions. Not surprisingly, I didn’t find anything quite as out there as May’s, but everyone has their quirks. Here are a few you should keep an eye on as the games go on:
 

• Canadian swimmer Keith Beavers must do everything just so before a race. He walks to the starting blocks, gets his feet in just the right position and then shakes out his limbs in exactly the same way every single time.
• Get ready to say aww because 14-year-old English diver Tom Daley searches for his lucky charm before jumping. That would be his cuddly stuffed monkey that sits atop his bag.
• Another athlete from Great Britain, boxer James DeGale, also has an exact ritual before climbing in the ring. He must put on his left sock and left shoe first, or else who knows what will happen.
• Two special charms will be aiding Canadian paddler Mark Oldershaw during the games. One is a wristband Adam van Koeverden brought back from the Athens games and the other is a pebble Oldershaw took from a Chinese rowing venue in 2006 which he plans to drop in the water now that he’s back.