Injuries are a common issue in the world of elite sports, from the hamstring strains and ACL tears that plague footballers to rugby players’ ankle sprains and concussions.
Not so ordinary? The freak injuries that happen off the pitch.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois knows a thing or two about freak injuries -and bad timing. In April 2017, he missed out on a crucial Premier League match against Manchester United after sustaining an ankle injury.
Only he wasn’t playing football when he got it: he was helping out at a promotional gig for the club with the NBA, shooting hoops with the likes of Philadelphia 76er Joel Embiid.
He shoots, he scores... and now he’s sidelined. Courtois twisted his ankle after an awkward landing.
Footballers aren’t the only ones liable to off-the-court injuries: 18-time Grand Slam champ Roger Federer underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee in 2016. The reason? Just blame fatherhood.
Federer was running a bath for his twin daughters when he hurt his knee.
“I woke up, I don’t know exactly remember what happened. I think I was going to run a bath for the girls,” he explained.
“I made a very simple movement, turned back, heard a click in my knee. I went to the zoo. My leg was swollen.”
Courtois and Federer are the latest in a long line of sportsmen to have been sidelined by an injury that’s just plain bizarre.
Here are 10 more of the most unusual injuries in sporting history...
The collision caused him to roll down a hill and sustain a cut in his left leg, forcing him to withdraw from an international fixture against Finland. His feelings of regret about the situation? Enor-moose - we'd wager.
Unfortunately for Hanson, that wasn't the only freak injury of his sporting career: his 2003 season ended abruptly after sustaining a gash in the the locker room - chopping a block of wood with the team's "motivational" axe during a team meeting. The gash - also on his right foot - required surgery.
Well, it turns out you can damage your hands just as badly from the comfort of your couch: "Gameboy thumb" is real.
Back in 1991, Sacramento Kings rookie Lionel Simmons played GameBoy so incessantly that he ended up with tendonitis in his right wrist and forearm. The small forward missed two games as a result. We'll never know if the sacrifice was worth it to rescue Princess Daisy in "Super Mario Land".
Don't worry - he had a reason: he'd been suffering from a swollen toe and thought his solution would relieve the pressure and drain some blood. Needless to say, it didn't, and part of the toenail had to be removed after it became infected as a result. Oops.
In June 1986, he was in his hotel room, trying to remove his cowboy boots, when he lost his balance and fell over onto the sidearm of the couch. The fall caused breathing problems and bruised ribs, preventing Boggs from running for the next couple of games. He was sidelined for six games after that.
He's not the only sportsman thinking it's a dog-eat-dog world out there: in 1999, Barnsley midfielder Darren Barnard was sidelined for five months after slipping in a puddle of his pup's pee on the kitchen floor, tearing his knee ligaments.
More recently, in 2008, Stoke City's Liam Lawrence tripped over his pet labrador, which caused his ankle to give way.
Just ask England defender Rio Ferdinand. After leaving his leg propped up on a coffee table for four hours while watching television, Ferdinand ended up with a tendon strain in his knee (during his spell at Leeds United).
He's not the only footballer to have sustained a TV-related injury: England goalkeeper David James once pulled a muscle in his back from reaching for the remote control.
The defence man missed the entire 2008-2009 season as a result.
On another occasion, he damaged his shoulder falling through a loft - while packing suitcases.
