‘Idol Star Athletics Championships’ to return for the first time in three years

MBC’s Idol Star Athletics Championships is set to make its long-awaited return after a three-year pause.

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On June 17, South Korean cable network MBC confirmed the return of the bi-annual Idol Star Athletics Championships (ISAC), a television programme where various K-pop groups and singers compete across several days in multi-sport events.

“It’s true that we are once again planning the Idol Star Athletics Championships. We are still in the process of discussing the details,” MBC said in a statement to Sports Dongah, as translated by Soompi. More specifics about who is set to compete and when the next installment of the programme will air are expected in the coming months.

Typically held twice a year on both the Korean Lunar New Year holiday at the start of the year as well as during the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday in the fall, the programme had last taken place at the beginning of 2020.

Examples of sporting events that have previously taken place in past versions of ISAC include athletics, archery, ssireum (traditional South Korean wrestling), penalty shoot-outs, pitching, horseback riding as well as e-sports such as PUBG tournaments.

In the 2020 New Year special of ISAC, notable contestants included K-pop groups such as THE BOYZ, PENTAGON, SF9, Apink, NCT Dream, Stray Kids, WJSN and LOONA, among others.

In other news, Pledis Entertainment shared that SEVENTEEN’s Jeonghan had recently underwent surgery to rectify a damaged tendon in his right elbow. While the singer is “highly determined to attend all of the group’s prearranged engagements”, the extent of his participation in SEVENTEEN’s scheduled activities will be adjusted.

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