Are US Athletes Cursed by Korea's Unlucky Number 4?

Every culture has a number considered unlucky because of superstitions. In the United States it’s 13. In South Korea, it’s four.The reason behind the fear of the number four, known as tetraphobia, lies in the way it sounds. The Korean word for “four” sounds much like their word for “death.” Jones, Lipinski and Weir Sashay to ‘Crazy in Love’ [[474403773, L, 300, 338]]Tetraphobia is fairly common across many Asian cultures and far surpasses Western propensity to triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13. The superstition permeates through many aspects of society in these cultures. Many elevators in South Korea, for instance, skip the number four or use the letter “F” in place of the number four to represent the fourth floor. Adam Rippon to Work as NBC Correspondent at Olympics Americans competing in Pyeongchang are learning that you don’t need to believe in the “curse of four” to be doomed by the single-digit menace. And given these Team USA athletes’ results at the 2018 Winter Games, they may leave South Korea with their own fear of four.Mikaela Shiffrin — Alpine Skiing, SlalomIn her signature event, defending Olympic slalom gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin finished fourth just a day after winning gold in the giant slalom. She was also wearing the No. 4 bib. What Just Happened? Skier Tries to Bite Teammate’s Finger [[474262393, C]]Ben Ferguson — Snowboarding, HalfpipeBen Ferguson finished on the podium in three of the four Olympic-qualifying contests, and he was the first U.S. men’s halfpipe rider to qualify for the 2018 games. But after posting a big score in the halfpipe qualifying and easily advancing to the finals, Ferguson, wearing bid No. 4, finished just off the podium in fourth place.Lindsey Jacobellis — Snowboarding, Snowboard CrossLindsey Jacobellis, the most decorated women’s snowboard cross athlete ever, recorded a fourth-place finish at her fourth Olympics, also donning the No. 4 bib.[[474253583, C]]Maddie Mastro — Snowboarding, HalfpipeWearing bib No. 4, the young American snowboarder had a disappointing end to her Olympic debut, crashing out three times in the women’s halfpipe finals to finish 12th out of 12 women in the finals.Ryan Cochran-Siegle — Alpine Skiing, Men’s CombinedIn his Olympic debut, Ryan Cochran-Siegle clipped a gate during the combined downhill and wiped out. The 25-year-old was also wearing bib No. 4.[[473946743, C]]The Americans aren’t the only ones impacted by the “curse of four.” These Athletes from other Western countries who donned the No. 4 bib during their competition may also have been jinxed.Austrian Stephanie Brunner — Alpine Skiing, Giant SlalomStephanie Brunner crashed in her first run of the giant slalom and failed to finish.Australian Britteny Cox — Freestyle Skiing, Women’s MogulsThe defending world champion in women’s moguls finished 5th.Dutch Ireen Wuest — Speedskating, Women’s 100mThe most decorated speed skater in Olympic history skated in the fourth pair and finished 9th in the women’s 1000m. A day earlier, Wust won gold in the women’s 1500m. She skated in starting pair No. 11 in that event.  Kazakhstani Denis Ten — Figure Skating, Men’s Short ProgramA bronze medalist in Sochi, Ten skated fourth in Friday’s men’s figure skating short program and finished 27th, failing to advance to the free skate event.Sweden’s Hanna Falk- Cross-Country, Women’s Sprint ClassicAfter finishing first in her heat at the quarterfinals and third in the semifinals, Falk came in fourth in the finals of the women’s sprint classic. As for Shiffrin’s gold in giant slalom on Thursday, she was wearing bib No.7, a lucky number in South Korea. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego