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The return of Superstars
After a break from our screens of 18 years, Superstars
will return with a host of sporting stars lined up to compete in
La Manga, Spain with Johnny Vaughan and Suzi Perry as hosts. The
original Superstars was presented by David Vine and ran for 11 years
on BBC 1 from 1974. Memorable moments included Brian Jacks' outstanding
gym performances, Kevin Keegan falling off a bike at high speed,
and Malcolm McDonald setting a record for the 100m.
   
The new team
The series will be of interest to Natives as among those competitors
already confirmed are Alain Baxter, Martin and Graham Bell, along
with Alain's cousin, snowboarder Lesley McKenna all of whom will
hopefully prove just how fit skiers and snowboarders really are.
Rumour has it that the snowsports crew perform pretty damn well,
so make sure you're watching...
   
Also taking part will
be Dennis Wise and Stuart Pearce (football), Colin Jackson and Liz
McColgan (althletics) and rugby players Martin Offiah and brothers
Rory and Tony Underwood. Richard Dunwoody and Peter Scudamore (jockeys),
Steve Collins (boxing), Annabel Croft from (tennis) will also be
competing.
The Format
The six-part series will feature four men's qualifiers and a final,
and a women's special, all of which will be based at an Olympic-style
village. Contestants live and compete together, taking part in 10
disciplines, ranging from the infamous gym tests to mountain biking,
the 100m sprint, target golf, and swimming.
Athletes compete against
each other in a wide range of disciplines, collecting points according
to their score or time, and the winner is the man or woman with
the highest aggregate total. 10 points are on offer for a first-place
finish in each event, seven go to second spot, four to third, two
to fourth and one point goes to fifth place.
But there is a catch.
To prevent Mark Foster destroying all-comers in the pool, or Chris
Boardman blitzing his heat in the biking, every contender is withdrawn
from their "specialist" event. In the interests of safety, athletes
may then opt out of the discipline they fear most - so John Regis,
for example, can spare himself the indignity of drowning by dropping
the swim.
Schedule
Superstars starts 16 October at 8pm on BBC1.
Alain Baxter is in Heat 3 on 30 October.
Martin and Graham Bell are in Heat 4 on 6 November
Lesley McKenna is in the Womens' Special on 13 November
The final is on 20 November -the field is unknown at this stage,
but watch out for those skiers!
The Events
100m: Put your head down and run as fast as you
can.
800m: Put your head down and run almost as fast
as you can for 600m and then hang on for dear life until the finish.
50m swim: Thrash around like a mad thing and hope
to stay afloat - diving is encouraged, but tumble turns are banned.
Gym test - squats: Always a source of controversy.
Your feet must be dragged from one line to another as many times
as possible in a minute. Sliding in socks is allowed, but those
who value their feet are advised to wear shoes.
Gym test - dips: Another bone of contention. The
aim is to lift yourself up using two parallel bars until your elbows
lock out, then to dip down before locking out again. You have one
minute of sheer pain to do as many repetitions as you can.
Kayak: Duel in pairs along a 120m course. The two
fastest paddlers win the dubious right to do it all again, this
time head-to-head in the final.
Mountain bikes: A one-off race up a very steep
600m slope.
Football (men only): Contenders must dribble from
the start-line before trying to slot past keeper Dave Beasant. You
have three cracks at goal and, in the likely event of a tie, positions
are settled on time.
Golf (men's heats only): The aim is to chip five
balls as close to the pin as possible. For every ball that comes
to rest inside the target zone, you score points, graded according
to how close to the hole you finish. Every shot counts and total
points decides the winner.
Archery (men's final and women): Like golf with
arrows. Five attempts to hit the bullseye and the highest total
score wins.
Tennis (men's final and women): A real thigh burner. You
must touch your bum on a box and then get up and hit a volley deep
into the singles court without hitting out. Balls come at regular
intervals over a minute and the top scorer will hit predominantly
three-pointers (deep shots), as opposed to two-pointers (mid-court)
or one-pointers (drop volleys).
[Text & Picture
source: bbc.co.uk]
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