Sports athletes are, generally speaking, pretty good at what they do. After all, performance is how they make their living. Of course, they are still human, and no matter how good one may be, all humans fail. On the other hand, there are some incidents that are just bad luck and can’t be avoided regardless of how hard someone tries. Thankfully for us internet denizens, such moments are often caught on camera, and we can now laugh at them in relatively good humor: that’s what we’ll be doing here!
1. Before the Dive
Speaking of a hilarious image taken at the worst time possible during some aquatic athletics, we have this one right here. We’re assuming this was taken right before they dived into the water or something, which is why they are making those faces. Gasping in that air, we assume?
The freaky poses are also something that must be the result of catching the athletes in motion. Stop to see every individual pose a human makes as they move around, and you’d be surprised how many weird things you end up seeing.
2. How Even…?
Lots of strange things go down in wrestling. However, we’re not sure how a situation like this would come about. Was this actually an accident? Was this intentional, for some completely insane reason? Both options sound crazy to us.
How Even…?
Regardless, you can find humor in the situation as well as confusion. Whatever these athletes are up to, intentional or not, deserves some raised eyebrows at the least.
3. Doing it Backwards
There are few things that make you look as silly as holding a sign the wrong way. Everyone sees it, everyone sees you being oblivious to the fact that you are holding it wrong, and ultimately, you just look really silly.
In fact, we would say the oblivious nature of a person in such pictures is the most embarrassing part of all. So naive, so innocent: not even realizing that everyone is giggling at them, or just being clueless as to why everyone is laughing.
4. Hang on Tight
Gymnasts and acrobats may be equal to figure skaters in regards to gracefulness while performing, but just like all other athletes, they mess up too. They may make it look easy, but rarely is it actually as simple as it appears!
Even the best gymnasts fall off the balance beam from time to time, it’s just that only a few of them manage to hang on after they fall off, and that looks pretty funny to laymen like us.
5. An Appropriate Reaction
In a game that is mostly about throwing legs and around and kicking balls, something like this is bound to happen eventually. We all know about the weird penchant for soccer players to fake injuries, but when something like this happens, it probably isn’t fake at all.
We’re pretty sure this was an accident, and we know we shouldn’t laugh at men suffering from something like this, but we have to admit, the image is pretty hilarious. We just can’t help ourselves.
6. Ball to Ball Contact
One of the most important pieces of equipment in any and all sports is the one that keeps a male player’s important bits safe. Why? For reasons such as this, of course. You never know when a ball is just going to fly right into an unintended location.
Even the best pitcher makes mistakes sometimes, and in such situations, you are much better off wearing the gear designed to counter this! One way or another, we manage to get a pretty funny picture out of it.
7. Accidents Happen
This picture is an example of things that look hilarious only because they look like something else entirely. We’re assuming that no one intended to actually punch this poor baseball player. At least, it would be pretty crazy if a fan just wanted to punch one out for no reason.
It was probably just an unfortunate accident that ended up having this player get punched in the face, but one way or another, it ended up being pretty funny to see.
8. Right in the Face
Running track is probably not a sport that many people imagine to be dangerous, but accidents happen fairly often. Unfortunately for the athletes, some of those accidents happen to be hilarious. That’s fortunate for us, of course.
After all, we end up getting up this hilarious picture of some unknown athlete smacking into a hurdle face first. We feel for them, but can’t help but laugh. At least athletes can wipe away shame by performing better next time.
9. Incoming!
For all the hand-eye coordination that good athletes have, even they miss the ball sometimes. And when that happens, the ball could easily hit you in the face. And if that happens, the athlete may make a very hilarious face.
We don’t want to mock someone that got beaned in the face by a volleyball, but remember kids: pain is always funny as long as it doesn’t happen to you!
10. Dunked On
Basketball includes a whole lot of dunking, although most of it is physical. Even so, a lot of it can be metaphorical instead. Situations such as this one are of the metaphorical variety, and we don’t think it needs too much explanation.
Considering how much jumping is involved in basketball, we assume this is the sport with the highest risk of this kind of thing happening. A very unfortunate hazard that goes along with the territory.
11. Flat Out
With all the jumping and running around athletes have to do, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they take tumbles every once in a while. Such embarrassing falls usually lead to some pretty funny things for folks like us to laugh at.
Not that we have too much room to laugh, since those athletes are often doing something that we couldn’t possibly hope to match. Still, it’s alright to laugh about things like this as long as you respect their abilities at the same time.
12. The Pile Up
There are plenty of humiliating accidents in cycling as well. In fact, such incidents can be super humiliating, because most of them are caused by the mistake of one person. Imagine being the cyclist that crashed, then caused the pileup you see here!
That’s the price one pays for being ahead of other cyclists and messing up. No one is going to notice if you are in the back and you make this mistake. Athletes that are in the limelight are that much more humiliated when things go wrong.
13. The Epitome of Grace
Figure skaters are, compared to most athletes, viewed as the most graceful of their kind. In a way, that makes it even more humiliating when they make a clumsy mistake. Unfortunately, even figure skaters experience these types of things from time to time.
We’re not quite sure what happened here: maybe the figure skater just lost control and couldn’t stop themselves. Either way, we’re sure they had a tough time living this down.
14. New Moves
Speaking of figure skaters and their occasional but hilarious flops, here’s this one, which looks a lot like someone dancing in the ’70s. The look on her face really says it all: she knows she has messed up and is freaking out about the result.
The moment afterward is probably when she felt incredibly embarrassed about flopping over in front of that big audience. We’re laughing at this funny picture, but honestly, we do feel kind of bad for her. Nobody would want to be in her shoes at that moment.
15. Get Out of the Way!
Falling over when running on the track is always bad, but where you fall can be a big contributor to exactly how bad that is. It’s kind of like that cycling one we talked about: falling in the back isn’t so bad, but falling in the lead is a recipe for disaster!
This poor track runner seems to have flopped right in front of a bunch of runners behind her, which seems like a bad situation. Also kind of funny, but bad. Hopefully, all those athletes managed to leap over her, or she rolled out of the way pretty quickly.
16. Someone Call an Ambulance!
You know, there’s something unsettling about the fact that people find humor in the pain of others. You see something that looks really bad, and you laugh instead o being worried. But it’s fine as long as the person you’re laughing at was actually fine, right?
This little flop on the ice certainly looks bad, but not to worry: this athlete was just fine. And that means we can all laugh at her great misfortune because we’re bad people. Hooray!
17. What Even Happened Here?
Honestly, we’re not sure what’s happening in this picture. We’re assuming it’s just one of those things where you catch a picture of people at a very inopportune time. You’d be surprised at how many stupid faces people accidentally make as they go about their business.
In fact, many people make really silly faces when they are making some sort of intense effort, and that means a lot of athletes end up making silly faces. Well, even they can laugh at things like this, right?
18. Not How To Play the Game
Despite the excellent dexterity of pro athletes, sometimes the ball just ends up somewhere you weren’t intending. And sometimes, those unintended positions make for extremely hilarious-looking photos. That said, the guy on the left doesn’t look too happy.
Of course, he also seems to be taking that basketball right to a very sensitive place, so there’s no mystery as to why he might be unhappy. Well, his misery is our humor, and that’s all that matters.
19. R.I.P
Considering how much this guy has to squat during a baseball game, it’s really a wonder that this kind of thing doesn’t happen more often, don’t you think? The real problem is, would they really stop a match just so he could change his pants? Or would they have a replacement for him?
One way or another, this is a classic humiliating scenario for anyone, but it’s much worse for an athlete in this position: all the eyes are already on him, so it’s not like anyone could have missed it!
20. Boom, Headshot!
The most embarrassing thing about this photo is that you can see that this poor guy attempted to kick the ball. We’re just not sure if he missed entirely or if he accidentally kicked it into his own face. Maybe the mystery actually makes it even funnier.
On an unrelated note, isn’t it crazy how far the nose can bend without actually breaking or anything? It’s a wonder how that guy’s face could look like that in this picture, but probably be fine ultimately.
21. The “Oh Crap” Reaction
Speaking of balls to the face, it’s a wonder how quick human reaction time is: even with that baseball flying at dozens of miles an hour, there’s enough time for athletes to make silly faces like this one. Unfortunately, there’s generally not enough time to get out of the way.
We actually feel a little bad about laughing at this, because getting hit in the face by a baseball at high speed definitely hurts a great deal. But then again, insensitivity is a crucial part of getting a laugh out of some things.
22. Ninjas at Play
This is one of the few images we have that are hilarious, and not because someone is getting hurt. In fact, we’re not sure what led to this extremely odd and funny picture. Is this how this game is played? Are you supposed to do sick ninja kicks in this sport?
Or, are they just getting wild with it because they can? One way or another, these two athletes got caught doing something really weird in a photo.
23. Give Me That Ball!
Sports where athletes are likely to make physical contact with each other always lead to some wacky and hilarious photos. Most of them are accidents, but there are also a lot of athletes that get intentionally physical with other players.
That said, we’d be confused about the purpose of pinching your opponent’s face while in the middle of the game. Maybe he’s just really unhappy that he doesn’t have the ball, but is this the best way to get it? Or even a legal way?
24. Probably Not The Desired Result
There’s always a desired end result when athletes are doing their thing. However, it’s a toss-up as to whether or not that end result actually happens, or if you go down in a flame of tragic but hilarious glory. You can probably tell which one this is.
We hope he’s OK, assuming that he hit his chin on that bar. Who knows, maybe he actually didn’t hit it in any bad way, and this image is just super misleading. Funny, but misleading.
25. Cleaning the Ice
Usually, it’s the male lifting the female in skating, simply based on physical strength, which makes it an easier prospect for them. Of course, that doesn’t mean it always goes that way. Sometimes this happens.
We actually think that this picture was taken in the midst of a fancy move and that no disaster actually occurred. But at the same time, it looks like the woman is piledriving this poor guy into the ice, or trying to clean it with his hair. And you know, that thought is pretty funny.
26. The Worst Moment of Them All
We’re actually inclined to call this moment terrifying more so than hilarious, but there is a sense of humor to be had here if you really don’t mind a bit of dark humor at the expense of someone’s pants.
Don’t worry, he definitely survived this, but oddly enough, this kind of thing actually happens a lot more often than you would think. That thought really just makes motocross seem even scarier, but we suppose some people are just thrill-seekers.
27. Moments Before Disaster
Lots of funny photos are of this variety. Things are going pretty well, and a photo gets taken right before they aren’t going so well. And yes, this business with dogs is a real sport, before anyone asks.
Regardless, this photo is pretty hilarious if only because we all know the dichotomy between everything going well and impending doom. We gotta ask though, what did she ask that dog to do that it reacted like this? Or does it just have very bad aim?
28. The One Flop
One of the reasons athletes can be embarrassed so easily is because they are constantly compared to other athletes. And if those other athletes don’t mess up and you do, you look all the more silly. It’s only fine if everyone messes up together!
So unfortunately for this track runner, being the sole athlete to flop like this doesn’t do a whole lot for her image in that moment. Doesn’t help that there is no way to recover and catch up for a win in such a situation.
29. Not so Synchronized
We’ve made it no secret that awkwardness from graceful athletes is more humorous than anything else. Synchronized swimming falls securely into that field since it is by its nature intended to be very graceful. This image is… hilarious, more than anything resembling graceful.
Have you ever paused an animated movie or show in a transition frame, resulting in a totally wacky screenshot no one was ever meant to see? This is kind of like that, isn’t it?
