1975 WOMEN'S PRELIMINARY 1

Women's Superstars began as an outgrowth of the 1973 Battle of the Sexes competition in tennis where Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the Houston Astrodome. A little more than a year later, Billie Jean was back in the Astrodome as one of the competitors in the first Women's Superstars competition. King was in the second of two preliminary groups. Both groups competed at the same time. With most of the events taking place in the Astrodome, about 1,500 spectators attended on day one and 2,500 on the second day. Curry Kirkpatrick, covering the event of Sports Illustrated noted that "The elements that made this Superstars in some ways infinitely more interesting than then men's were not only the camaraderie and fetching byplay of the contestants, but a bristling competitiveness that for some reason, perhaps a fear of losing cool, has been lacking the men's Superstars." In group 1, the first two spots were grabbed by 1972 Olympic champions, diver Micki King and speed skater Dianne Holum. King had trained hard for the competition, in the style of Bob Seagren and won four events. Softball legend Joan Joyce and future Olympic speed skating champion and world cycling champion Sheila Young nabbed third and fourth place. As six athletes from each group would advance to the finals held in Rotonda in January, alpine skier Kiki Cutter and Hawaiian surfer Laura Ching wrapped up the final two spots. [Note: I am missing the third place finisher in the obstacle course. I am certain it was either Palmer, Chaffee, Blalock, Cochran or Smith. Some sources list King with 51 points, but the Sports Illustrated article correctly lists her with 58 points. Many sources list Young with 23 points, but her point total based on individual event finishes puts her at 25 points. It could be that Blalock received four points in bowling and Young two, but I have no specific evidence to support that.]

The Astrodome; Houston, Texas

Competition Dates: December 21-22, 1974

Air Date: January 19, 1975

Announcer: Keith Jackson and Donna de Varona.

PLC. NAME, SPORT
 TEN 352y BSKT ROW SWIM BOWL 60 SOFT BIKE OC TOTAL
MONEY
1. Micki King, Diving
7
10
x
4
10
x
10
7
x
10
58
$15,800
2. Dianne Holum, Speed Skating
x
4
x
10
4
7
x
10
10
2
47
$9,700
3. Joan Joyce, Softball
4
10
2
10
x
4
30
$5,500
4. Kiki Cutter, Alpine Skiing
10
7
2
2
1
7
29
$2,900
5. Sheila Young, Speed Skating/Cycling
7
7
4
7
25
$2,500
6. Laura Ching, Surfing
2
7
4
2
1
16
$1,600
N/A. Sandra Palmer, Golf
1
4
1
6
N/A
N/A. Suzy Chaffee, Alpine Skiing
2
1
1
4
N/A
N/A. Jane Blalock, Golf
2
2
1
2
7
N/A
N/A. Barbara Ann Cochran, Alpine Skiing
1
7
8
N/A
N/A. Robyn Smith, Jockey
1
1
4
6
N/A

INDIVIDUAL EVENT RESULTS

TENNIS

1. Kiki Cutter
10
2. Micki King
7
3. Joan Joyce
4
4. Suzy Chaffee
2
5. Sandra Palmer
1
Cutter d. King
6-3

352 YARD RUN

1. Micki King
48.7
2. Sheila Young
N/A
3. Dianne Holum
N/A
4. Laura Ching
N/A
5. Barbara Ann Cochran
N/A

BASKETBALL

1. Joan Joyce
N/A
2. Kiki Cutter
N/A
3. Sandra Palmer
N/A
4. Jane Blalock
N/A
5. Robyn Smith
N/A

ROWING - 100 yards

1. Dianne Holum
N/A
N/A
2. Sheila Young
N/A
N/A
3. Micki King
N/A
4. Joan Joyce
N/A
5. Sandra Palmer
N/A

SWIMMING - final (50 meters)

1. Micki King
N/A
2. Laura Ching
N/A
3. Dianne Holum
N/A
4. Kiki Cutter
N/A
5. Sandra Palmer
N/A

BOWLING

1. Joan Joyce
N/A
2. Laura Ching
N/A
3. Sheila Young
N/A
4. Jana Blalock
N/A
5. Robyn Smith
N/A

SOFTBALL THROW

1. Dianne Holum
N/A
2. Micki King
N/A
3. Robyn Smith
N/A
4. Jane Blalock
N/A
5. Suzy Chaffee
N/A

60 YARD DASH - final

1. Micki King
N/A
2. Sheila Young
N/A
3. Laura Ching
N/A
4. Kiki Cutter
N/A
5. Jane Blalock
N/A

BIKE RACE - final (half mile)

1. Dianne Holum
N/A
2. Barbara Ann Cochran
N/A
3. Joan Joyce
N/A
4. Laura Ching
N/A
5. Kiki Cutter
N/A

OBSTACLE COURSE

1. Micki King
N/A
N/A
2. Kiki Cutter
N/A
N/A
3. N/A
N/A
4. Dianne Holum
N/A
5. Laura Ching
N/A

e = estimated time

r = Superstars record

N/A = result not available

dnf - did not finish

nm - no mark

LINK: Sports Illustrated Article

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