Paul Golder writes for the Brentwood Gazette
Many of our listeners of a certain age will have fond and vivid memories of turning on BBC1 during primetime and watching the top athletes, footballers and boxers of the day taking part in a series of tests in a competition which had more than a passing resemblance to our own schools’ sports days.
If they remember that show they’ll also remember a guy slaying all comers with his unfeasibly high numbers of parallel bar dips and squat thrusts. So I was more than delighted to hear that legendary Superstars champion BRIAN JACKS was able to make it into the studio!
Brian was British and European champion in 1979 and British and International champion in 1980. He was, of course, highly successful in his original sport of judo too. Brian won Britain’s first medal at a world championship, taking a bronze in Salt Lake City in 1967, and also gained a bronze mdeal at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Superstars regularly attracted over 10 million TV viewers in the UK and Brian became a household name, appearing on children’s TV shows and picking up endorsements usually beyond the reach of a minority sport participant.
As well as all of this, Brian chatted to lunchtime presenter Mike Jones about his biography The Mindset Of A Champion by Marc Gingell (who also visited the studio) and his current tour, which will take him to Blatches Bears Judo Club in Great Dunmow on 2 June and Southend on 13 June.
He was an extraordinarily nice guy and still in amazing shape for a guy whose judo career has lasted well over 50 years!
You can hear the interview again at phoenixfm.com.
** Lots more guests coming up in the next seven days on air. Laura Coyle from Saint Francis Hospice will be talking about Dying Matters Week, and Ian Marshall from Spargo Hairdressers will be chatting the forthcoming Brentwood Business Awards and how local businesses can get involved.
** There will also be live music in the studio from Rob Palladino, Marc Hepburn and Sean Muir.