BTS, MAMAMOO, EXID, and More Grab Gold at 11th Idol Star Athletics Championships
This year’s Chuseok saw the successful wrap of the 11th Idol Star Athletics Championships, aired on September 28 and 29. Despite fans’ love-hate relationship with the event, which always seems to turn out some injured idols, love prevailed again, and fans witnessed returning triumphs, exciting new victories, and fist pump-worthy comebacks and reversals.
Groups with participating members this year include EXO, BEAST, 4Minute, BTS, SHINee, INFINITE, SISTAR, A Pink, Kara, Girl’s Day, Red Velvet, TEEN TOP, Secret, CNBLUE, AOA, VIXX, and more. The total number of participants came to roughly 300.
The first broadcast kicked off the female wrestling tournament, as well as the 60-meter sprint competition and futsal tournament.
Wrestling
The first day of the Idol Star Athletics Championships left four groups remaining in the wrestling tournament: AOA, T-ara, 9MUSES, and A Pink.
60-Meter Sprint — Girls
Kara’s Goo Hara and Dal Shabet’s Ga Eun went head-to-head for the 60-meter sprint, and in the end, Ga Eun went home with the gold.
60-Meter Sprint — Boys
For the guys, BTOB’s Minhyuk prevailed over B1A4’s Baro with incredible speed, going home with the gold.
Futsal
Perhaps the most nerve-wracking competition of all for the first day was the highly competitive futsal bracket. Players were divided into four teams, FC Chungdam, Real Mak Dribble, Goal Post Seuriga, and Makchester United, with the best players distributed between the teams, making it difficult to predict the winner.
However, Goal Post Seuriga quickly showed their prowess on the field. With BEAST’s Yoon Doojoon and Yang Yoseob, known for their soccer skills, as well as VIXX’s Leo, the team was a force to be reckoned with.
For the finals, Goal Post Seuriga went up against Real Mak Dribble, for which ZE:A’s Dongjun and Taeheon were running. The matchup was a close one, with the game going into overtime. In the end, Yoon Doojoon carried his team to victory, scoring the winning goal.
Wrestling Finals
A Pink and 9MUSES competed for the wrestling title on day two of the Idol Star Athletics Championships. First, A Pink’s Bomi went against 9MUSES’ Sojin. The two girls’ match went for the full allotted time, and even with a 30-second overtime, neither came out on top. In the end, the winner was decided with a weigh-in, the one weighing less taking the win. With a 0.4 kilogram difference, Bomi scored a point for A Pink.
Next up was A Pink’s Hayoung and 9MUSES’ Kyungri, with Kyungri winning one for 9MUSES.
Down to one final match, A Pink’s Namjoo and 9MUSES’ Song Sungah stepped into the ring. Using her 173-centimeter height to her advantage, Song Sunga prevailed, securing the gold for 9MUSES.
9MUSES celebrate their win:
Archery
In the first round of the competition, MAMAMOO and EXID, relatively new compared to other groups, knocked out SISTAR and 4Minute, respectively, much to the surprise of spectators.
MAMAMOO ended up battling the world team, which was comprised of miss A’s Fei, Shannon, and others. Victory came down to a hair’s breadth, riding on single final shots by MAMAMOO’s Wheein and Shannon.
Wheein landed a 10-point shot, which meant Shannon — not an easy competitor herself — would have to do the same for another chance. In the end, Shannon was only able score a nine-point shot, and it was a victory for MAMAMOO with a one-point difference.
Wheein especially shined in the archery competition, being the first ever in the idol competitions to score three 10-point shots in a row, which she did in her matchup with A Pink.
MAMAMOO celebrates their win:
Basketball
Basketball was completely Jung Jin Woon’s game. Jung Jin Woon, a recognized basketball heavyweight among idols, led the Gangnam Lakers to victory over the Shoot-hago Bulls, for his second championship victory in a row.
400-Meter Relay — Girls
The 400-meter relay finals were run by EXID, A Pink, Dal Shabet, and Oh My Girl. The lead runner changed continuously throughout the relay, and in the end, EXID’s Junghwa made the final comeback, and the gold went to EXID. A Pink accidentally stepped on the line during a lap, and was unfortunately disqualified.
EXID celebrates their win:
400-Meter Relay — Boys
For the boys, the teams running the final 400-meter relay were BTS, SEVENTEEN, TEEN TOP, and B1A4.
While TEEN TOP had been predicted to win, BTS, who was in second up until the final lap, made a triumphant comeback with Jungkook, who surged to the front and stayed there, grabbing a gold for BTS.
Watch the race here:
Final Winner
Taking all of the competitions into account, the team called Who’s Your CEO, comprised of Wonder Girls, miss A, BTS, Lee Hyun, Jung Jin Woon, Changmin, Baek A Yeon, BESTie, and GOT7 took the overall Idol Star Athletics Championships gold.
They made Rap Monster do a celebratory rap:
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