S**** and giggles: 5 times sports stars were embarrassed by bowel movements
Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan caused a stink when he blamed the ref for his loud fart on live TV on Thursday. The Rocket let rip during his win over Matthew Stevens in the Northern Ireland Open and initially blamed match referee Ben Williams. But after the match Ron confessed and even said he was “proud” of his audible effort. Ronnie, 44, isn’t the first sportsperson to be caught out by some suspect bowel movements. Bookies Reviews has unearthed some other memorable sporting slips…
Darts’ Fartgate
There was quite the eruption during the Grand Slam of Darts clash between Gary Anderson and Wesley Harms in 2018, with the players accusing each other of responsibility for “rotten egg smells”. Dutchman Harms blamed his rival for a “fragrant smell” but Anderson denied the accusation, saying: “If the boy thinks I’ve farted he’s 1,010% wrong. I swear on my children’s lives that it was not my fault. I had a bad stomach once on stage before and admitted it. So I’m not going to lie about farting on stage. Every time I walked past there was a waft of rotten eggs so that’s why I was thinking it was him. It was bad. It was a stink, then he started to play better and I thought he must have needed to get some wind out. If somebody has done that they need to see a doctor. Seemingly he says it was me but I would admit it.“
In Dier need
Tottenham’s Eric Dier was forced to dash from the field to answer the call of nature earlier this season. With 15 minutes left on the clock during Spurs’ Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea, Dier was spotted trotting off down the tunnel, hotly pursued by manager Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho explained: “The problem is this was not a pee. What happened to Eric Dier is not normal… I have to praise him in a special way. It should be forbidden for a player to play two games in 48 hours at this level. What he did is not human to do. He had to go [when he ran off] – he had no chance.”
Tottenham and Dier ended the evening feeling flush after beating their London rivals 5-4 on penalties.
Pooy Paula
Athletics legend Paula Radcliffe gave a whole new meaning to “having the runs” when she famously interrupted her 2005 London Marathon effort to pause for a pit stop. It was far from a crap decision, however, as Radcliffe went on to win the race.
The Brit later said: “It is one of those things you would obviously never do when you are not in that competition zone or environment but I did what I had to do and what was in the rules to win the race. I had bad stomach cramps and put up with it for as long as I could. I was looking and looking and looking for a toilet and I would have had to climb a barrier to go – and I couldn’t envisage being able to climb a barrier at that point. I don’t regret it because I won.”
Lineker’s shite to remember
Arguably the most famous incident of a sporting star being caught short is that involving Gary Lineker. Video footage from England’s Italia 90 group tie with Ireland, shows Lineker on the deck and telling his team-mates “I’ve s*** myself”.
Lineker later explained: “I had a bit of a dickie stomach, I don’t know where it came from. I managed to get through the first half despite terrible stomach cramps. You know, it’s a World Cup, you cannot say ‘Excuse me, ref, is it alright if I pop off for five minutes?’ Anyway, the ball went and I kind of go for it but I stumble a little bit. And as I stumbled, I… relaxed. I remember Gary Stevens coming up to me and he’s looking over me saying ‘are you alright?’ And I just remember saying: ‘I’ve s*** myself?’ What do you do?”
It might have happened more than 30 years ago, but the memory lives on thanks to a social media meme that Linker is surely sick of.
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