VERY SUPER STITIOUS

aura Kenny shouldn’t need an extra sprinkle of luck at the Tokyo Olympics in July. She is already the most successful female British Olympian in history, having won four Olympic golds, as well as seven world titles and 14 European golds. She has committed to years of dedicated training to achieve her optimal performance level. And she has been helped by dozens of sports scientists and psychologists through British Cycling’s £25 million World Class Programme. Yet before Kenny heads out to race in the velodrome she will momentarily forget all of the training and the science… and step on a lucky wet towel.

“I am really superstitious and I always tread on a wet towel before I race,” admits Kenny, 28, who hopes to compete in the team pursuit, omnium and Madison in Tokyo. “It sounds stupid but I had to race with a wet sock before the omnium final at the Junior Worlds after I trod on a wet towel, and I won the race. So I just do it all the time now.”

Despite the rise of sports science and psychological training, the dark arts of superstition and ritual