Loughborough Superstars is a sporting event organised by the Athletic Union which is based on the BBC Superstars programme where athletes compete against each other in a wide range of sports collecting points according to the their score or time and the winner is the man or woman with the highest total.

Loughborough Superstars was launched last year, with over 20 competitors battling it out over one weekend followed by a gym test to determine who was to be crowned the Superstar of 2007. This year saw a preliminary round with over 50 people battling it out to become Loughborough’s Superstar 2008.

LOUGHBOROUGH SUPERSTARS REPORT

“Have you got what it takes?” That was the question posed to Loughborough’s sporting students. 61 competitors from across 53 sport clubs and 16 halls took up the challenge to be Loughborough’s superstar.

Preliminary Rounds:

The first round begins as the HiPAC filled with the greatest sport stars on campus ready and raring to go. Adrenalin was high as the first events commence; long jump for the boys, 100m for the girls. However after a laugh about who would fall on their face if they tried to use starting blocks, it became clear that whilst it was going to be tough, it was also going to be fun. On the first day we witnessed some magnificent leaping by Jumping Jak Flash, Katie Steele and Nicky Breaks, some torpedo-like swimming from Emma Kearsey and Adam Jones, and Camilla Thurlow beating the boys in the football penalty shoot out – to much cheering from the girls! The final 15 boys and 11 girls were chosen and ready for the next round, a 2 day event kicking off with the dreaded 800m won in style by Kirsty Hamilton and followed up by some ‘interesting’ shot-put techniques and a repeat of the 100m and long jump. The next day brought the most anticipated event of the competition, the Kayaking. With much laughing, cheering and sinking boats, the afternoon saw Ludi Lacrosse glide to victory in phenomenal time, then Gav Hodgson almost manage to pull off a somersault from the diving blocks and Wooly the sheep took a belly splitting beating in the penalty shoot out re-match.

The Final:

With the results in, the finalists chosen and the date set everything was ready for the Hey Ewe grand final on stage at midnight. Nerves were high backstage, quenched slightly by the announcement that red bull was free and as we all would need wings to manage a full minute of press-ups and squat thrusts it was gratefully received. First up, girls press-ups and the four of us; Anna, Camilla, Ludi and myself walk out to a packed Room 1 and a rush of vertigo as you look down at your friends cheering you on. “Three..two..one..” the immortal countdown of the one and only John Anderson, and we’re off. At 50 seconds full body lock hits and we force ourselves to do just one more, before collapsing backstage as the boys take their turn. Then all that remained was the squat thrusts, the crowning of the 2008 Loughborough Superstars, Anna Griffiths and Ekachi Field after a tremendous effort in the gym test and then the after party where we got to meet (and in Camilla’s case hug) John Anderson and crack open the bottles of VK before the celebratory shots with loyal friends who’d shouted themselves hoarse from the front row. 

Definitely one of the toughest competitions in Loughborough, but also the most fun and the opportunity to make some amazing new friends. Bring on next year!!

By Gabi Ireland

LOUGHBOROUGH SUPERSTARS PRELIMINARY REPORT

With a chill in the air and signs of the previous days rain all around, February can be a dull time of the year for many people. Loughborough however, is on a high from sporting success as well as anticipation for the BUSA knockout competitions coming up. But more importantly tension is in the air, and the competition everyone is talking about through dining rooms and living rooms Leicestershire and Rutland wide is…Loughborough Superstars.

Sunday the 17th of February saw some of Loughborough’s top athlete’s line up for the preliminary round of the competition, based on the popular BBC series. 15 women and 34 men lined up with the goal of reaching the final, however only a limited number would qualify, meaning that some fantastic talent (and some not quite so fantastic) would have to be cast aside in the search for Loughborough’s top sportsman and woman.

The preliminary round was made up of 4 disciplines, long jump, a 100m sprint, a 50m freestyle swim and a penalty shootout. The athletic events were our starting point, and the early pace in the women’s competition was set by Dani Christmas following a 13.60 in the 100m sprint, meanwhile at the long jump pit the men’s competition was heating up with university athletes Ekachai Field and Max Hall easily clearing 6m, taking 1st and 2nd respectively. After completing both events the men’s competition was led by Ekachai, meanwhile Katie Steele had tied Dani for the lead in the women’s field. The next stop was the pool for the 50m swim, with Adam Jones and Emma Kearsey showing some real mastery in this area to take maximum points.

The final event took the competitors (and a growing audience) to the EHB pitch for a penalty shoot out. The Soccer AM style scoring system and Wooly’s goalkeeping was no match for Camilla Thurlow and Adam Jones who top scored. Consistency was the name of the game for the overall standings however, and James Griffiths came home with a 1st place finish in the mens event, meanwhile the womens event was won by Katie Steele.

The finals begin on February 29th and conclude on March 2nd and with the addition of shot put and an 80m canoe, the finals will be a true sporting spectacle. The event concludes on Wednesday March 5th with a gym test live on stage at Hey Ewe. Don’t miss it! Congratulations to all who participated.

See you at the finals!

By Chris Hazeldine

RESULTS

You can download all of the results by clicking on the button below.

The spreadsheets have the times and distances or score for each event, next to this is the points each competitor received for that time/distance or score (Men - awarded 15 points for the best score, 14 points to 2nd place and so on...) (Women - awarded 10 points for the best score, 9 points to 2nd place and so on...)  The football score each competitor received on the day (i.e. the amount of points you received per goal you scored was the score you received overall). For example if the competitor finished the football round with a score of 4 this was the number of points you received.

All of the points were added together and then ranked to find the top 4 competitor’s to take on the Gym Test live at Hey Ewe.

LOUGHBOROUGH SUPERSTARS 2008 WINNERS ARE Anna Griffith and Ekachai Field

CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU!

Superstars 2008 Show - Episode 1

Anna Griffith

winner of Loughborough Superstars 2008

Ekachai Field

winner of Loughborough Superstars 2008

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