Injuries in sports are nothing new – often players suffer months on the sidelines because of horrific injuries suffered on the pitch.
With athletes getting physical on the field week-in, week-out, they are bound to get injured in the line of duty. But it's the injuries that happen off the pitch that most often have an element of weird to them.
Here are the five surprising, bizarre injuries suffered by sports stars off the pitch – starting with the one that had South Africans smacking their heads this week:
1. Wayde Van Niekerk -- Touch Rugby (2017)
Olympic gold medalist and one of South Africa's finest athletes, Wayde Van Niekerk is renowned for his track running – not his touch rugby game!
Touch rugby is hardly a contact sport; players tapping an opponent as opposed to tackling them is much less dangerous, but van Niekerk managed to spike his immediate racing prospects at a celebrity charity match. Slipping off the wet surface after a soft challenge, he injured his knee, and as a result has been ruled out of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
One question we have to ask, is how rough were his opponents? Six months off for a touch rugby injury?
2. Kevin-Prince Boateng -- Too much sex (2012)
Who would have ever thought that sex would be so good, it would result in a football player missing a very important European clash though injury?
"The reason why he is always injured is because we have sex 7-10 times a week," said Boateng's girlfriend, Melissa Satta – explaining why Boateng suffered multiple thigh injuries during his time at AC Milan. That was five years ago, when the thigh niggles were keeping him out of crucial games for the Italian side. It's hard to see how a coach can protect a player from that...
3. Derrick Rose -- Slicing apples (2008)
Basketball star Derrick Rose suffered an arm injury in 2009 after lying on a knife, which he had accidentally left on his bed while slicing apples.The Cleveland Cavaliers point guard was in his second year as a pro with the Chicago Bulls at the time.
After using the knife to slice and eat an apple in bed, he left the blade lying in the bed when he got up. Flopping back down later, he promptly sliced his arm open. Luckily, he recovered before his next match. But since then, we reckon apple is his forbidden fruit.
4. David Beckham -- Flying boot
After Manchester United lost an FA Cup tie to rivals Arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson, then-coach of United, was dissatisfied with his team's performance. In his dressing-room tantrum, he kicked a stray boot that smacked the England captain in the face and cut him above his eye .
Beckham was injured for a couple of months, and Fergie said, "If I tried it 100 or a million times, it couldn't happen again. If I could, I would have carried on playing!"
5. Thibaut Courtois -- Basketball commercial
Chelsea's colossal goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is a big man to get past if you want to score. It would be understandable if Courtois were to try his luck in basketball – although it was a basketball advert that caused him to miss a vitally important FA Cup tie with Spurs in 2016.
Jumping about while shooting the commercial, Courtois he landed awkwardly, which left him with an ankle injury and a few weeks off the pitch.