Superstars was a televised sporting event featuring top athletes from different sports competing in a series of events that were not their own. The idea was developed by Dick Button and it first aired as a two-hour ABC Sports special in the winter of 1973.
Competitors chose to participate in a range of different sporting events including a 100-yard dash, a half-mile run, bowling, weightlifting, rowing, tennis, basketball, bicycle racing, swimming and an obstacle course. The sports have varied over time and between the various competitions. Points are awarded for the position in which the competitor places in each event. The competitor with the most points at the end is declared the champion.
By the end of 1973, a similar event appeared in Great Britain and within a few years, separate competitions were being held in other countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden.
The American version grew to encompass women, entire sports teams and celebrities and lasted off and on for three decades, from 1973 until 2003. It was briefly revived in 2009. From 1977 to 1982 six World Superstar championships took place, bringing together top U.S. and European finishers and the national champions from other countries. Canadian soccer player Brian Budd was unbeaten in Superstars contests, winning the World Championship three times consecutively from 1978 to 1980, making him the most successful Superstar of all time.
Origin The idea was developed by 1948 and 1952 Olympic figure skating champion Dick Button. He shopped the idea to all three US television networks, and ABC bought it as a special for the winter of 1973. The first Superstars competition was held in Rotonda West, Florida in February 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. In the very first event, the 50 meter 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?" He also famously opined, "That Mark Spitz," (who had won seven gold medals for swimming at the 1972 Olympics) "is a tough muthafucker!"
Spin-offs included a women's version of the show, and a Superteams version, where the two World Series and Super Bowl teams each faced off (except the New York Yankees, whose owner at the time, George Steinbrenner, prohibited his players from competing, so in years where the Yankees were in the World Series, their league's runner-up competed instead), with the winners competing in the finals. There were also brief runs of versions for celebrities and for juniors, where each state's Department of Education was asked to nominate one high school, and those schools each sent one boy and one girl to qualifying rounds, with the final aired on TV.
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. During a three-year period (1991–1993) the event was held in Cancun, Mexico. The competitions were held in different areas of Cancun Palace and Melia Cancun hotels. During that period former great NFL players Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Lynn Swann worked as commentators of the Superstars Tournament.
There was no American version for three years (1995–1997); then ABC revived the show in 1998 and broadcast it through 2002. CBS Sports picked up the show the next year.
Several athletes won the event two or more times. Among them: Kyle Rote, Jr., Soccer (1974, 1976, 1977) Renaldo Nehemiah, track and field/American football (1981–83, 1986) Herschel Walker, American football (1987–88) Willie Gault, American football (1989–90) Dave Johnson, decathlon (1993–94) Jason Sehorn, American football (1998–2000)
Speed skater Anne Henning won three straight women's competitions (1976–78). Basketball player Ann Meyers matched that feat in 1981 through 1983. Volleyball player Linda Fernandez won two straight events in 1979 and 1980.
List of champions Year Athlete Sport State1973Bob SeagrenPole vault California1974Kyle Rote, Jr.Soccer Texas1975O. J. SimpsonFootball California1976Kyle Rote, Jr.Soccer Texas1977Kyle Rote, Jr.Soccer Texas1978Wayne GrimditchWater Skiing Florida1979Greg PruittFootball Texas1980Charles WhiteFootball California1981Renaldo NehemiahTrack and field New Jersey1982Renaldo NehemiahTrack and field New Jersey1983Renaldo NehemiahFootball New Jersey1984Tom PetranoffJavelin Illinois1985Mark GastineauFootball Oklahoma1986Renaldo NehemiahFootball New Jersey1987Herschel WalkerFootball Georgia1988Herschel WalkerFootball Georgia1989Willie GaultFootball Georgia1990Willie GaultFootball Georgia1991Kelly GruberBaseball Texas1992Mike PowellLong Jump Pennsylvania1993Dave JohnsonDecathlon North Dakota1994Dave JohnsonDecathlon North Dakota1995–1997: Competition Not Held1998Jason SehornFootball California1999Jason SehornFootball California2000Jason SehornFootball California2001Hermann MaierAlpine Skiing Austria2002Bode MillerAlpine Skiing New Hampshire2003Jeremy BloomFreestyle Skiing Colorado
World Superstars
1977 – Callaway Gardens, Georgia, US 1977 World Superstars Championship Final Result Place Athlete Sport Country1stBob SeagrenPole vaultUnited States 2ndKjell IsakssonPole VaultSweden 3rdPeter Snell1500 metresNew Zealand
In 1976, following the success of the Superstars in the US, Britain and mainland Europe, Dick Button and ABC decided to organize a World Superstars Final, to be held the following March at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.
The participants in the inaugural "World Superstars Championship" were to be the competitors from across the various national and continental versions of the show with the best records in the previous years, and as such the US was to be represented by its previous national champions Bob Seagren, O. J. Simpson, and three time reigning current champion Kyle Rote, Jr. The rest of the participants were to be drawn from the top six finishers from the 1976 European Superstars final, the top six from the US version in 1977, and the winner of the 1976 Canadian Superstars event. In reality, as was always an issue for Superstars, several competitors withdrew in the weeks before the contest, with Rote and Simpson pulling out just a week before taping, leaving a slightly weakened field headed by Seagren, double European champion Kjell Isaksson, Canadian champion Tony Gabriel and the joint runners-up from the US final Guy Drut and Dave Casper.
Aside from the withdrawals of Rote and Simpson the other major omission from the field was the double British champion and 1975 European runner-up David Hemery who was studying at university in the US, and had failed to qualify for the 1976 European final after finishing a narrow third in his heat. Had he paddled his Kayak 0.4 seconds faster or scored two more points in the pistol shooting he would have made the final, and with other strong European challengers (like Ties Kruize, Kevin Keegan and Björn Borg) also absent, the European challenge was significantly poorer.
The contest started with rowing, where Peter Snell capitalized on a mistake from fellow athlete Frank Nusse to win the first ten points, then the soccer penalty shoot-out. Here Gareth Edwards was one kick away from winning nearly $5,000, but he fluffed his final shot and had to settle for a five-way tie for second place, while Guy Drut easily won the play-off, and took the money. After this it became a two-way contest between the two pole-vaulters, Isaksson and Seagren.
Controversially, Seagren (by nature of being retired from IAAF competition) was allowed to run in the track and field events, while Isaksson was not. Seagren later admitted that this gave him a major advantage over his younger, Swedish rival, as running was a fundamental part of any pole-vaulter's training regime, and thus they had to be favored in such events. While Seagren was unable to win the 100 yard sprint, he did score two points, and his win in the half-mile race gave him a further ten. Isaksson countered with a win in the gym tests and two second-place finishes in the bike race and weightlifting. Seagren however kept competing strongly and his victory in the swimming and second place in the gym tests saw him take a 33 points to 30 lead over Snell and Isaksson into the final event: the obstacle course.
This event was not held in Europe, and therefore Isaksson was attempting it for the first time. In the heats Isaksson ran a time of 25.81 seconds, while Snell was far behind with 29.2 seconds. Seagren however, with much more experience in the event, ran 0.8 seconds faster than the Swede, finishing in 24.64 seconds. His loss in the final to record holder Lynn Swann was irrelevant; the seven points for second place made him the first World Superstars Champion, and won him $37,000 in the process.
1978 – Freeport, Bahamas
1978 World Superstars Championship Final Result
Place Athlete Sport Country1stBrian BuddSoccerCanada 2ndBob SeagrenPole vaultUnited States 3rdGreg PruittAmerican footballUnited States
With the Superstars franchise nearing its zenith of popularity, the World Championship returned in 1978 with a 12-man field consisting of the national champions from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the top three finishers from the 1977 European Superstars final, and the top five from the 1978 US National Championship. Completing the line-up was the returning champion, Bob Seagren.
Though the 1977 runner-up Kjell Isaksson was missing (he would not compete in Superstars again until 1980), Europe was strongly represented by Jean-Paul Coche, Keith Fielding and Ties Kruize, while Wayne Grimditch, Greg Pruitt and Dwight Stones (who could famously jump up the 10-feet high obstacle course wall in one stride) represented the US. It was the Canadian champion however, Brian Budd, who would completely dominate the contest, and World Superstars for the next three years.
Budd was multifaceted as an athlete, his soccer training covering swimming, running, bike racing and gym work. He also understood that the key to winning Superstars was to win as many points as possible in the events you were good at, and to hold on for as many points as possible in the others. He turned out to be nearly unbeatable in the gym, half-mile race and the swimming, and more than competent in cycling and rowing. In 1978 he won 44 points from these five events alone, ten points more than he needed to become World Champion.
In the 100-yard dash, joint favourites Greg Pruitt and Keith Fielding were both unbeaten in the 100 yards/metres, and a fabulous race was in prospect. Budd got off to a blistering start – according to the UK commentator Ron Pickering it was 'a flyer' – and led in the first 30 yards, but Pruitt, then Fielding accelerated, and the two had a large lead over the rest of the field. As they approached the finish line, Fielding pulled onto Pruitt's shoulder, then leaned as the two crossed the line together. Without photo-finish equipment the result had to be called from hand-timing only. Fielding was given a time of 9.97 seconds; Pruitt had officially run 9.96. Fielding believed he had won, as did the BBC commentators covering the final. Fielding's challenge was teetering, and in the half-mile run the searing Caribbean heat and a crazy pace he had attempted to catch up with Budd cost him physically; he collapsed of heat exhaustion and had to receive first aid and oxygen from Ron Pickering at track-side.