This is the first episode of the new show

review

Retired athletes are placed in a villa and must prove themselves to each other in competitions. This combination of reality show and Super10kampf is a new show from SRF. The first episode of Champions of Champions airs tonight.

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A nerd, a cheerful person, a curmudgeon and of course a charming Valais man. This is not the line-up of the casting band, but the line-up of the Swiss TV show Champions of Champions:

Lee, Marvulli, Gasparin, Albrecht, Schnyder, Hefti, Angehrn and host Studer (from left).Image: srf

The seven former sports greats spent a week together in warm Andalusia, with host Lukas Studer braving the sunshine in a vest.

When I told the editorial team about the project, the first reaction was “Does Angehrn need money again?” Other questions included: Is Beat Hefti really Appenzell's answer to Obelix? When will we see Li Donghua practicing gymnastics on the washing machine in the villa? Does Franco Marvulli have the guts to put a bucket of orange juice on the table in front of Patty Schnyder at breakfast as a joke?

“I find the most exciting conversations on the couch, where you find out what it's really like,” former boxer Stefan Angern said in the introduction. Thurgauer has a point, but it doesn't make the makers happy. Because lengthy personal commentary on careers takes away the momentum from a game show.

It's really exciting when Daniel Albrecht talks about his journey to becoming world champion, his life-changing fall in Kitzbühel and his return to the ski slopes. When Li Donghua talked about the loss of his seven-year-old son, the tears didn't just roll down the cheeks of the villa residents. How can you, as a viewer, take that emotional leap of joy as host Studer announces the next game?

These games test how conflicted former professional athletes remain today. Conditional, coordinated, psychological.

Beat Hefti is my favorite because a former pro athlete friend of mine once told me a story about the Olympic bobsled champion. At the National Sports Center in Maggingen, everyone must be tested on entry. No one could lift the metal cage—until Hefty showed up. So who can defeat this strong man?

You may not have noticed, but this isn't a team, they're the opponent.Image: srf

So I'm glad Hefty actually won the first game. The task is to roll a truck tire suited to your weight over a kilometer up a mountain. “Bi always carries ane cho stuff,” Angehrn complained, showing scratches on his knees. The 60-year-old man came last.

After the second race, bike racer Franco Marvulli uttered the best line of the first episode. “I'm like a dinosaur: big mouth, weak arms!” said the Zurich native, imitating a Tyrannosaurus rex after being eliminated. Participants had to stretch their arms as far as possible – and in the end, Beat Hefti won again. I should have made a bet before the show.

Schneider (left) and Mavuli must prove their arm and shoulder strength.Image: srf

Angern said before the race that the task suited him well, and his prediction was correct: this time he wouldn't be in last place. “Chasch works,” his arms began to shake as if Ralf Rocchigiani was shaking him hard again.

Of course, all athletes give their all. They are the best in the world at their subjects because they hate losing.

But the show lacks competition. Where reality shows with a similar structure feature influencers with no intellectual gifts hurling insults at each other, on Champions of Champions there is, unsurprisingly, peace, joy and pancakes. Competition thrives on healthy competition, rather than rivals cheering each other on in a friendly way.

After the white cheese, there is perhaps the strongest Appenzeller cheese in the world: Beat Hefti.Image: srf

The SRF broadcast was ultimately the outdoor version of Super10kampf, and its success was largely due to the atmosphere in packed indoor stadiums. The Andalusian sunshine is undoubtedly beautiful, but it cannot replace the audience. As we've learned during the pandemic, sports without spectators in stadiums are often a dull, fruitless affair.

The main question remains, however, that with the success of Portrait and Game, we're seeing two programs become one. Less is more.