2024 Idol Star Athletics Championships Chuseok Special (2024)

A staple in terms of idol shows : give it a go if you know the artists, otherwise less interesting

The Idol Star Athletics Championships (often shortened as ISAC) is a sport competition between idols divided in teams. The teams can be done based solely on members of the same group, but sometimes teams are mixed across groups and even across genders. The program is a regular staple of idol show entertainment, which occurs usually once a year since 2010 (except in 2021 and 2023). In 2024, it was back and broadcasted as part as a special tv show of 3 episodes during Chuseok.

I saw a lot of legendary clips on YouTube of the best moments of the previous ISAC and even watched part of episodes featuring the groups that I love. This year, I wanted to watch the full program which featured quite a bit of the most recent groups that I follow : BOYNEXTDOOR, &TEAM, TWS and ZEROBASEONE. There were many more groups of course but those are the ones I was the most excited to watch. In terms of casting, there was a good mix I feel of groups, a lot of popular rookies but not the most established and famous idols groups (which participated to previous years when they were themselves more rookies).

In terms of sports, there are various events. The 2024 edition features 60 m, 400 m relay, archery, futsal, dancesport and breakdancing. It is definitely the archery and relay events that I found the most interesting, probably also because a lot of the members of groups I follow participated in those. Some of the breakdancing performance were very exciting as well to follow. I must admit though that some events were a bit boring for me, especially when I did not know the participants. It is much more easy to be energized when you are watching idols you support. Some performed better than others, but it was all done in good spirit and overall very fun to follow. I loved to see the groups I follow interacting with each other and encouraging each other as well.

I would recommend this to people that are fan from groups participating to the event. I think if you don't know anybody, it might not be very interesting. Actually, I think I might even rewatch some of the events in which artists I like participated, but other than that I don't think I will ever rewatch the full broadcast again. There are indeed some parts that are less interesting, and the commentators discussion are quite boring overall. Fancams done by the fans might even be better at providing a view on the various interactions and what happened on the day.

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