In the World, International, European, and British versions of the contest, athletes would compete in 8 out of 10 events, with no one allowed to take part in their own sport, although some handicapping rules did apply.

The BBC covered the competition and aired their own programme, featuring British athletes, on December 31, 1973, which was won by 400-meter hurdles Olympic champion David Hemery.

Competitors participate in a range of different sporting events, including a 100-yard dash/100m sprint, a half mile (800 m) run, an obstacle course or steeplechase, weightlifting, soccer skills, rowing, tennis, basketball, bicycle racing, shooting and swimming.

[1] Recorded at Crystal Palace in August and promoted as a challenge between Britain's seven best sportsmen, the contest was won by David Hemery, the 1968 Olympic champion in the 400-meter hurdles, defeating Jackie Stewart, Bobby Moore, Joe Bugner, Roger Taylor, Tony Jacklin and Barry John.

Featuring the first ever gym test (devised by Pickering and comprising circuit running, a medicine ball throw, parallel bar dips, and squat thrusts), the event came down to the final steeplechase, where Hemery overcame a 100-meter handicap to pass Barry John with 60 metres left.

[2] In the second event in 1974, World Light-Heavyweight Boxing Champion John Conteh comfortably beat an ill Hemery and Colin Bell to win the title, again at Crystal Palace.

[4] Following the success of the first two standalone UK competitions, in 1975 the British national Superstars contest was suspended, and the event was widened to include participants from continental Europe.

[5] Memorable events in the first year of European Superstars included Malcolm Macdonald winning the 100m sprint in a Superstars record time of 10.9 seconds (after being made to run the race twice following the false start of another competitor), David Hemery being beaten by Dutch field hockey player Ties Kruize following a fall in the 600m Steeplechase, Swedish discus thrower Ricky Bruch setting records in the weight lifting and medicine ball throw sections of the gym tests, and the first appearance of pole vaulter Kjell Isaksson, who dominated the final heat in Sweden, scoring a then record 69 (out of a possible 80) points.

His performances duly improved, and even though 1976 Olympic Judoka David Starbrook took his parallel bar dips record in the gym tests, Hemery had become Britain's top competitor.

With deep cuts and abrasions to his arm, shoulder and back, the Liverpool footballer was expected to withdraw, but with a large crowd present to watch him he said "These people here in the stands have come here to see me make a fool of myself and they've got a right to it!

In the UK national Superstars, rower Tim Crooks beat shot putter Geoff Capes in a tight contest, but failed to qualify for the European final, losing by one point to François Tracanelli in the Spanish heat.

Representing Great Britain instead at the Ahoy final was Rugby league player Keith Fielding, who finished a close second, matching Hemery's best ever performance by a British Superstar.

Jacks had enormous upper body strength and quickly came to dominate the gym tests, setting records in squat thrusts and, in particular, the parallel bar dips.

Although popular in the UK, US, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia, Superstars reached their peak at the turn of the decade, and one by one (starting in Europe) the participating nations fell away.

For Sherwood – a PE teacher from Sheffield at this time, and not a full-time sportsman – the World Championship proved to be a success, but not for Jacks, aiming to become the first European to win the title.

Jacks was the heavy favourite, and duly won his "banker" events, but his inability to compete in the running tests left him facing huge obstacles.

He had his share of luck (water skier Mike Hazelwood was tied in first place in the shooting when he misfired the decisive shot, gifting 10 points to Fielding) but he was on top form this season.

Since 1978, the BBC had also produced an equally popular British Superteams event, which was dominated from the start by the "Athletes" – a team of track and field stars, who won every series but the final one in 1985.

Hooper later stated that he felt pressured by the aggressive nature of the US challengers, which came to a head in the final of the bike race, where he found himself boxed in by several rivals all seemingly working in concert to hold him back.

The 1983 championship was also notable for the record breaking performances of Des Drummond in the 100m, with the agile Leigh Rugby League player managing to lower the markdown to only 10.85 seconds, in itself a time comparable with many full-time track and field athletes who would compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

In the 1984 final, Garry Cook was pushed very close by professional stunt performer and motorcycle racer Eddie Kidd, but he held on against a weaker field than usual to become champion.

The final series of Superteams was duly won by "Watersports" (a team representing swimming, water-skiing and diving) which was led by Olympic swimmer Robin Brew who excelled at running events and also in the gym tests, where the bar jump became his speciality.

Over the next fifteen years, though the US version continued unabated, Superstars in the UK existed solely as a nostalgic memory for sporting clip shows, usually focussing on Kevin Keegan falling off his bike, Stan Bowles shooting the table instead of a target, or Brian Jacks eating oranges.

Following the success of Team GB at the 2012 London Olympics, the BBC revived Superstars for a single special edition that aired on Saturday 29 December at 6.45 pm, comprising a men's and women's UK championship.

The show featured Olympic medallists who were coached for swimming by Rebecca Adlington, and the competitors were: Alistair Brownlee, Jonathan Brownlee, Mo Farah, Robbie Grabarz, Michael Jamieson, Anthony Joshua, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Peter Wilson, Nicola Adams, Lizzie Armitstead, Laura Bechtolsheimer, Gemma Gibbons, Helen Glover, Katherine Grainger, Jade Jones, Christine Ohuruogu.

The contest started with Rowing, where Peter Snell capitalised on a mistake from fellow athlete Frank Nusse to win the first ten points, then the 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.

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 favoured in such events.

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.

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.