Superstars

"Superstars" is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon. The idea was developed by 1948 and 1952 Olympic figure skating champion Dick Button. He shopped the idea to all three U.S. television networks, and ABC bought it as a special for the winter of 1973. The first Superstars competition was held in Rotonda, Florida in March 1973 and was won by pole vaulter Bob Seagren. The BBC covered the competition and aired their own programme, featuring British athletes in August 1973 and that competition was captured by 400 metre hurdles Olympic champion David Hemery. Television broadcasts of the competitions were popular both in Europe and North America in the 1970s and 1980s.

Competitors participate in 10 different sporting events, including a 100 metre sprint, 800 metre (roughly ½ mile) run, obstacle course race, weightlifting, football (soccer), rowing, tennis, bicycle racing, gym test, and swimming. The sports used have varied somewhat over time and between the European and American competitions. Points are awarded for the position in which the competitor places in each event. The competitor with the most points at the end of all 10 events is declared the champion.

Britain/Europe

David Hemery, the 1968 Olympic champion in the 400 metre hurdles, won the first British Superstars in 1973. Three men each won two European Superstars championships: Swedish pole vaulter Kjell Isaksson; Dutch field hockey player Ties Kruize and British judoka Brian Jacks. One of the European competitors was Ivo van Damme, a middle-distance runner who was killed in a road accident in 1976. British competitors included John Conteh (boxing), Tim Crooks (rowing), Keith Fielding (rugby), Andy Ripley (rugby), Lynn Davies (1964 Olympic long jump champion), James Hunt (racing driver), Robert Day (table football), John Sherwood (track), Brian Hooper (pole vault) and Jonah Barrington (squash). For most of the duration of the run of this programme on BBC TV, the programmes' producer was Peter Hylton-Cleaver.

One of the most famous moments in the British series was when footballer Kevin Keegan injured himself by falling off his bike during the cycling event. He insisted on re-racing and secured second place in the event, before going on to win that edition of the programme. Another famous moment was the controversial use of sunflower oil by Jonah Barrington to aid him in the squat thrust event.

In 1982, electronic scoring systems were introduced, with pressure pads for the squat thrusts. These originally ran on the Commodore VIC-20, and later on the BBC Microcomputer. The programs were developed and the system operated by Simon Taylor.

The programme had a spin-off called "The Superteams" in which one memorable moment was when British athlete Gary Cook played goalkeeper in the six-a-side hockey contest without wearing a helmet, running out of the D circle and tackling an opponent.

The show returned to the BBC in 2002 with a one-off special for Sport Relief, with England rugby union star Austin Healey the winner. Du'aine Ladejo (athletics) won the 2004 events (actually filmed in 2003), with Alain Baxter (skiing) winning in 2005 (actually filmed in 2004). One notorious incident in 2003 saw boxer Wayne McCullough severely burning his feet by sliding during the squat thrust competition. This caused a change in the rules whereby the competitors must now lift their feet off the ground during this event.

The BBC "Superstars" used a musical theme composed by Johnny Pearson and titled "Heavy Action". This piece later became familiar to Americans as the theme music for "Monday Night Football".

On April 29, 2008 it was announced that the show would be returning on Five for the summer of 2008. [ [http://www.athletics-weekly.com/newsarticle.php?id=530 Athletes feature in new Superstars TV series] Athletics Weekly, accessed 04/29/08] It is being produced by TWI with eight one-hour shows. The competitors will be split into four teams, captained by Kelly Holmes, Steve Redgrave, Roger Black and Mike Catt.

The most famous competitor in Superstars history was Brian Jacks, a former Olympic judo medallist. Jacks revolutionised Superstars with his immense performances in the Gym competition. He still holds the world record for dips and also for squat thrusts. Jacks won the Superstar title 4 times and had a computer game named after him.

coring Points

After each event, the player who is ranked first gains 10 points. Then the next best ranked player gets 7, 4, 2 and then finally 1 point. These points are then totalled up.

United States

"The Superstars" was first broadcast by ABC Sports as a segment for ABC's "Wide World of Sports" (which aired the aforementioned "Monday Night Football") in 1973. Bob Seagren, an Olympic pole vault gold medalist, was the first winner. However, it was heavyweight champion boxer Joe Frazier who nearly stole the show, almost at the cost of life and limb. In the very first event, the 50 metre swimming heats, Frazier nearly drowned, and only after he was retrieved from the pool did he admit to commentators that he didn't know how to swim. When a reporter asked him why he tried the race, Frazier replied, "How was I to know I couldn't unless I tried it?"

Spin-offs included a women's version of the show, and a "Superteams" version. The show remained popular in the 1970s, but ratings declined and the last edition produced by ABC came in 1984. NBC Sports picked up the program the next year and carried it from 1985 to 1990. ABC took the show back in 1991, and broadcast it through 1994. There was no American version for three years, then ABC revived the show in 1998 and broadcast it through 2002. CBS Sports picked up the show the next year.

In 2005, the production company Rocco's Jobbers attempted to revive the competition as a pay-per-view event. The concept was to be a competition between past champions and a crop of new, up-and-coming athletes. The event was the brainchild of 1991 Superstars champion and former pro baseball player Kelly Gruber. Gruber spent months recruiting past champions to join the 'old-timers' team, but was ultimately unsuccessful, leading Rocco's Jobbers to pull its financial commitment, resulting in the cancellation of the special. Gruber blamed his previous bad history with the production company for their hasty decision to cancel the show. Adding to the difficulties, several major US sports leagues ban their players from appearing in Superstars-like events, fearing athletes may injure themselves.

Several athletes won the event two or more times. Among them:
* Kyle Rote, Jr., Association football"soccer", 1974, 1976, 1977
* Renaldo Nehemiah, track and field/American football, 1981-3 and 1986
* Herschel Walker, American football, 1987-8
* Willie Gault, American football, 1989-90
* Dave Johnson, American decathlon, 1993-4
* Jason Sehorn, American football, 1998–2000

Other notable winners include football great O.J. Simpson in 1975 and the skiers Hermann Maier (2001) and Bode Miller in 2002.

Speed skater Anne Henning won three straight women's competitions (1976-8). Basketball player Ann Meyers matched that feat in 1981 through 1983. Volleyball and tennis great Linda Fernandez won two straight events in 1979 and 1980.

World

A "World Superstars" competition was held annually from 1977 through 1982. Bob Seagren won the initial competition followed by three straight wins for Canadian soccer player Brian Budd. Budd was not allowed to enter again because of a new rule barring anyone from competing in a Superstars competition after their third victory. South African F-1 racer Jody Scheckter won in 1981 and British pole vaulter Brian Hooper won in 1982.

Beginning in the 1990s, the U.S. competition included athletes from around the world, such as Lennox Lewis, Alberto Tomba and Hermann Maier.

References

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Dugout/8973 'The Superstars': a page describing the Superstars competitions over the years.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/superstars/default.stm BBC Superstars Website]
* [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/mediamonkey/2008/06/superstars_trailer_promises_fu.html A trailer for the Channel 5 re-incarnation of Superstars]