Understand all the details behind the Idol Star Athletics Championships, a sports competition also known by the acronym ISAC
The Idol Star Athletics Championships, also known by the acronym ISAC, is a South Korean television program created in 2010 by broadcaster MBC, where idols compete against each other in sports such as running, archery and shooting, rhythmic gymnastics and others.
See the list of modalities practiced at the event:
- Brand: Running and walking, hurdles, relay, long jump, high jump and 50 m freestyle swimming
- Invasion: Futsal, football, penalties and basketball
- Precision: Archery, bowling, curling and javelin
- Net and wall: Footvolley and table tennis
- Combat: Fencing and Korean wrestling (ssireum)
- Field and bat: Baseball pitching
- Combinatorial-technical: Aerobic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and competitive ballroom dancing
- Other sports: E-sports, equestrian training and canine agility
Disputes can take place individually or in groups, and are full of surprises. Some of the most memorable examples happened in 2019, such as when, in the bowling competition, Jaehyun, from NCT, achieved a record with a score of 243 out of a total of 300 points, by making six strikes in a single round. Remember!
Still about records, also in 2019, in the women’s archery contest between TWICE and Gugudan, Gugugan beat TWICE with 91 points and achieved the highest score in the category so far.
More than that, there are somewhat unusual situations, such as when Irenefrom Red Velvet, ended up breaking one of the event’s cameras when he missed the target in the 2018 competition.
Showing a new side of the idols, the popularity of the event took off, making it customary for it to be held twice a year, usually on the Korean holidays of Lunar New Year and Chuseok, in February and September, respectively, both times, with television broadcasts .
However, with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, between 2020 and 2021, ISAC editions were no longer shown in their original format, as the competition started to be carried out through online games with the artists.
The event returned to its origins only in 2022, in the edition that aired in September of that year. Still, last year, the program did not have any edition. At the time, MBC revealed that the decision was made due to the Asian Games taking place in 2023, as explained by the South Korean portal News Naver.
Will there be more editions of ISAC?
More than a competition, ISAC has become a tool to bring idols closer to their fans, as well as promoting the careers of famous South Koreans. Still, there is uncertainty regarding the future of the televised competition, after all, MBC has not revealed any plans for an edition in 2024.
Furthermore, there is a series of controversies surrounding the program, with criticism of the venue’s infrastructure, as idols began to get injured frequently, abuse of power by the producer, and rumors of dating between idols, which caused the disapproval of the program. event by a large part of the public, affecting the program’s audience.
Source: Recreio
