Picture British kids sprinting on tracks marked with creosote, deadly poison used as standard until banned in the 1980s. That defined 1970s school sports day: no safety mats, just grass landings and pure childhood grit. High jump? A simple rope stretched between two wooden poles. My mate cleared it cleanly but dislocated his shoulder on landing. He stood up, grinned through the pain, grabbed his arm and popped it back in saying, “This happens all the time.”
Everyone had to compete, no exceptions. Whoever invented beanbags in the 1970s must have made a fortune; every school had stacks for obstacle courses, hall games, and these mad races. We even heard rumours of a proper “beanbag game” but never learned the rules. Anyone know them?
The joyful chaos captured Britain’s imagination so completely it inspired BBC television gold: We Are the Champions. Three schools battled obstacle courses—scaling walls, crawling through plastic tunnels, carrying tennis balls or beanbags in tag-team relays—then faced identical challenges in swimming pools using inflatables.
Ron Pickering hosted, fresh from coaching Lynn Davies to Olympic long jump gold in 1964 and BBC Tokyo 1968 commentary alongside David Coleman and David Vine. He became athletics’ voice for millions. Celebrity referees elevated it: footballers Derek Dugan and Gordon Hill, swimmers Sharon Davies and David Wilkie, cricket legend Garfield Sobers. Local stars shone too—Mary Peters in Northern Ireland, Lynn Davies in Wales.
Producer Peter Charlton borrowed army assault course elements and marvelled as kids outperformed recruits. Land events built tension on wobbly, hand-built scoreboards. Then the cold, wet teams moved indoors to leisure centre pools for inflatable recreations of land challenges. Armchair viewers loved it—we never got inflatables during school swimming lessons (unless you count secondary school lifesaving in pajamas ).
Final scores tallied, one school crowned champions. Ron Pickering thanked everyone and delivered the magic words: “Away you go!” All competitors leapt into the pool, hurling inflatables in glorious anarchy as credits rolled. That brief chaos was peak 1970s children’s television.
What are your memories of We Are the Champions? Did your school ever compete on the show?
Share your memories with us!
Take care, Oliver
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