From the Curse of the Bambino, to the Drake Curse, the Curse of the Billy Goat and the Curse of County Mayo... this St Patrick’s Day, we’re exploring why some sports fans and players believe their teams could actually be cursed. Why are sport and superstition so intrinsically linked? Whether it’s wearing lucky pants on match days, sitting in the same spot for every game or even peeing on the field before kick off - why do some of us seem to believe cosmic forces could help lead us to victory? After investigating an apparent 70-year-old curse on County Mayo‘s Gaelic football team, Irish-American sport reporter Dave McKenna is back for this special episode. He’s delving into the minds of fans and athletes to try to understand why sport and superstition seem to be so entangled. For Dave’s full, three-part investigation into the Mayo curse, scroll back to episodes of Amazing Sport Stories from the end of 2023 or search for The Curse of County Mayo, wherever you get your podcasts.  Let us know what you think of #AmazingSportStories

Special: Curses and superstitions

Sport but not as you know it. Our latest Amazing Sport Story: Chasing Mountains. Five of the world’s top female climbers are thrown into a race. But who will make history by becoming the first woman to summit the fourteen highest peaks in the world?  Forget the champions. Amazing Sport Stories is about courage, underdogs, drama and myths and legends. These are global stories you’ll wish you’d known about and now probably won’t forget. There are other podcasts about gold medals and millionaire superstars. Expect the unexpected. Tales from around the world, all told in mini-seasons and one-off episodes. #AmazingSportStories Previous Amazing Sport Stories include:
The Black 14: Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of 14 American footballers. It’s 1969 in the United States. They’ve arrived on scholarships at the University of Wyoming to play for the “Cowboys”. It was a predominantly white college. The team is treated like a second religion. Then, the players make a decision to take a stand against racism in a game against another university. BA Parker takes us back to America’s turbulent 1960s to explore the injustice suffered by the “Black 14”.
The Curse of County Mayo: Is one of Ireland’s Gaelic football teams cursed? Sports reporter Dave McKenna investigates this curious case to find out if a 70 year old hex is behind Mayo’s recent failures.
Frozen Out: Twelve year old Justine just wants to play ice hockey… with the boys. When she’s told she can’t, she writes a letter which will change everything. Double Olympic gold medallist and former Canadian team captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall tells the story of Justine Blainey.

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Antonio Esfandiari's heart was beating like a drum. $18 million was stacked up about 12 feet away from where he was sitting. Only one other poker player stood between him and the biggest prize in the game's history. Everyone held their breath as the dealer revealed the final card. For Esfandiari, it represented the culmination of a career which began in very different circumstances; for poker itself, the change was immeasurable. This is the story of how a card game went from smoky back rooms to the global sporting mainstream. Audio scenes have been re-created. Let us know what you think #AmazingSportStories

Poker's new deal

We have a winner – or so we think. Questions are being asked, as an earlier climb comes under scrutiny. If you don’t actually reach the summit, can you still claim the title of first woman to scale the fourteen highest peaks? The mountaineers risked their lives on the ultimate challenge – can they make peace with what has happened?

Chasing Mountains: Ep 4

The mountaineers are climbing the final peaks, and three of them are neck-and-neck. The other two are close behind. They say it’s not a race, but their sense of competition is intense. Can they all make it? This episode was updated on 17 May 2024, to correct an error in the temperature on the summit of Nanga Parbat.

Chasing Mountains: Ep 3

Then there were five. Two super-fast new challengers are powering up the peaks, and the pressure is on. Edurne Pasaban, Gerlinde Katlernbrunner and Nives Meroi have been climbing the world’s highest mountains at a rate of around one a year. With the arrival of the South Korean climbers Oh Eun-sun and Go Mi-young, the stakes are supercharged.

Chasing Mountains: Ep 2

A near-death experience motivates a mountaineer to scale the world’s highest peaks. But two others are trying at the same time. They say this is not a race, but they are locked in competition to be the first woman to reach the summit of the 14 peaks.

Special: Curses and superstitions

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