The Champions Race, the spectacular obstacle game arrives Saturday night on France 2

Presented by Teddy Riner, a new obstacle game will appear on France 2 on Saturday night. Amateur athletes will compete against champions for winnings ranging from € 2,500 to € 100,000.

France 2 will broadcast Saturday night the first episode of its new game of obstacles, The race of the champions, a family entertainment with big show presented by Teddy Riner to put in leg before the diffusion of Olympic Games of 2020.

Adapted from the American concept "Million dollar mile" created by the American basketball player LeBron James, this game offers amateur sportsmen to measure themselves against the champions of various disciplines on a series of obstacles installed at the Stade de France, with the key of gains ranging from € 2,500 to € 100,000.

Amateur sportsmen leave with 2 minutes ahead of the champions and must cross 5 obstacles (not unlike those of "Ninja Warrior" on TF1) among which the "bamboo forest" - a field of poles pivoting to cross without touching the ground -, "L'Escalad'o" - a swimming pool that must be crossed to reach a particularly steep climbing wall - before "the ultimate challenge" obstacle bonus to € 100,000.

The race stops when the champion catches the amateur, with a system of stages of gains after each obstacle.

The distressing music, the nocturnal scenery and the staging worthy of an action movie, with champions presented as "super-villains" (The Beast, The Tank, The Warrior ...), contribute to create a breathless suspense around the races, commented in the style of a real competition by the duo Olivier Minne-Sandy Heribert.

Teddy Riner, the Stade de France, athletes

Judoist Teddy Riner, who is taking his first steps as a TV host, hailed "a beautiful project" that he accepted because "it was sport" : "I came out of it a lot" , he said. entrusted during a presentation.

"It's a magic recipe. We have Teddy, we have the Stade de France, we have champions and candidates who give everything, " said the game's producer, Jean-Louis Blot (Warner).

While the American version was stopped by the channel CBS for lack of hearing, the producer defended the French adaptation: "we are very far from the US version which is a kind of Who wants to win millions of the race of obstacle. We do not tell the same story and we did not go into sensationalism " , " we put forward the theme of surpassing oneself and honor, "he says.

Several hundred candidates presented themselves at the selections and only a few dozen, aged between 19 and 50, were selected after very thorough physical tests over several days.

Adil Rami cut in editing

The 12 champions gave them a hard time on races from a few minutes to twenty, depending on the performance of the amateur.

Some of the races were contested by celebrities for associations. This was the case of the footballer Adil Rami, cut to the assembly because the association he defended, the National Solidarity Federation women, suspended his collaboration with him after accusations of violence of his ex-companion Pamela Anderson.

Four shows are planned on France 2 in the slot of Saturday night face "Dance with the stars" of TF1, in a box previously devolved to "The biggest cabaret of the world" Patrick Sébastien, left last year after 23 years on the two.

"This is a surprise with this program that was not expected on France 2," says director of France Télévisions programs Nathalie Darrigrand, which does not broadcast a program of this type except Fort Boyard.

"After the successful renewal of the afternoons, we began a deep renewal of evenings for a family audience. This game meets this objective, with a focus on the Olympics, " according to Cyril Giraudbit, director of France 2.

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