If you watch the 2023 World Athletics Championships, you’ll see non-stop displays of speed, endurance, power and agility. You might also notice athletes doing things that cause you to scratch your head more than drop your jaw. Like pros in most sports, track and field athletes have their quirky competition routines. Here’s the inside scoop on five that will be on display in Budapest. Heads up: Once you spot them, you can’t unsee them.

 

Start Line Slapping

Just before races of 400 metres or shorter and in some field events, it can look like the athletes are under attack by mosquitoes. Runners and jumpers slap their faces, legs, and arms. Some even hit themselves in the chest. What gives?

“I’ll typically slap my face as we’re walking onto the track or standing in the blocks,” says Trevor Bassitt, the 400-metre hurdles bronze medalist at last year’s world championships. “From time to time, I’ll punch my chest. I like slapping my legs once we get the ‘On your mark’ call. It gives you a little bit of a shock as you’re getting in and really helps me lock in. I feel like it also gives you a little more blood flow to the legs.”

Although research on the practice is scant, some believe it produces a small release of adrenaline.

In Budapest, Bassitt slapped him himself before taking on Karsten Warholm of Norway, who is the 400-metre hurdles world record-holder as well as one of the great self-slappers in track and field. Earlier this year, Warholm told an interviewer he revised his routine to avoid hitting himself too hard in the heart.

Racing in One Arm Sleeve

After he’s done slapping himself, Bassitt will race wearing a sleeve on his left arm. Does doing so reduce drag as he leans into the curve or otherwise improve performance?

“There’s no direct performance benefit to wearing it,” Bassitt says. “I wear it because I like the way it looks, which in turn gives me more confidence when I put it on.

”Bassitt started wearing one arm sleeve in 2019, two years before 800-metre ace Clayton Murphy did. “I wanted to do something different and fun to just break up the obvious distance runner look,” the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist says. “It is entirely for aesthetics. It gives me zero performance benefit.”

Encouraging the Crowd to Clap Rhythmically

Before an attempt, many long jumpers and triple jumpers turn to the crowd and start clapping overhead. Once the crowd picks up the clapping, the jumpers face the pit and take off down the runway. How does this help?

“I do it when I want some more energy and to get the crowd involved,” says triple jumper Donald Scott. “When I decide to not clap is when I just want to be in my own sense of mind without worrying about the crowd engagement.”

Gittens also uses the practice intermittently. “I find when I am struggling with my rhythm, if I am overstimulated, starting a clap will only lead me to make more mistakes and not work through the issue correctly,” she says. “I rely on rhythm when going down the runway, so if I am not confident in my approach at the time, then starting a clap can sometimes confuse me even more.”

Last-Minute Motions Before a Jump

Many field event athletes seem to be watching a movie or talking to themselves before an attempt. It’s reasonable to think they’re pre-hearsing before jumping or throwing. Is that the case?

“What I do is stand there, look past the pit and at the board,” Scott says. “Then I see the jump, feel the jump, and trust the jump. Go!”

Gittens, in contrast, does her mental run-through before she gets to the runway. “This is a way to visualize the perfect approach and jump,” she says. “It also gives you time to go over your coach’s feedback and visualise yourself doing the motions. Then when I get on the runway, all I say to myself is one cue—‘run through the board’—and then I go.”

What you will see Gittens do on the runway is wiggle her fingers just before taking off. “I do this to keep myself in the moment,” she says. “I focus on a body part and not the feeling of anxiety or excitement.”

Rinse and Spit

Finally, there are the marathoners. Specifically, the ones who grab their bottles at the 40K mark even though they’ll finish in six to ten minutes. Why bother when a few sips of sport drink aren’t going to supply energy in time and could disrupt your rhythm at a crucial point in the race?

The main reason is one that you can implement late in your next marathon: Research has shown that rinsing with a carbohydrate drink and then spitting out the fluid can give a slight performance boost. It’s believed that sensors in your mouth signal to your brain that carbs are on their way, resulting in a given pace feeling easier. This process is similar to when you consume carbs after a draining run and immediately feel revived, even though there hasn’t been time for the carbs to reach your muscles.

Now, just think if the marathoners slapped themselves after rinsing and spitting!