Games Without Borders show: rules, participants, prize and first injury

Just recently on TNT TV channel has thundered show “Titans”, but it seems that the producers are not going to leave the viewer without bright emotions, exciting competitions and, of course, sports. There is a new project on the air – “Games Without Borders”. A distinctive feature of this show – participants from different countries and continents. We will tell you about what awaits athletes this time.

History and essence of the show

“Games without borders” is a large-scale sports project, where athletes from all over the world compete. Participants from Russia, China, Iran, the United States, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Brazil, India and Kazakhstan have arrived at the arena. Among them there are not only professionals and champions, but also just fans of an active lifestyle, who have years of training behind them.

Representatives of the TV channel announced the show in late 2023, and in the spring of 2024, a large-scale casting was launched. It could take part in it any athletically fit person aged 20 to 35 years old, you just had to fill out a questionnaire. According to the results of the selection, 64 athletes will take part in the project, 16 of whom will represent Russia.

It is impossible not to mention that a sports ground of incredible size – more than 7000 m² – was built especially for this show. Filming started on July 1, 2024. And now you can already watch new episodes every Sunday at 21:00 Moscow time. The episodes are also available in online format on one of the popular video hosting sites.

Liaisan Utyasheva

Presenters

Liaisan Utyasheva, Honored Master of Sports in Rhythmic Gymnastics, two-time European champion, World Cup winner, will be the host of one of the most sporting projects on national television. Her colossal experience not only in great sport, but also in front of the cameras will help the participants to overcome the challenges, and the audience – to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the competition.

But do not think that Liaisan will cope with this difficult task alone. She will be assisted by sports commentator and journalist Roman Naguchev and comedian Tambi Masayev, known from the show “What Happened Next?”. Thanks to such a line-up of presenters, the viewer will definitely not be bored.

Roman Naguchev and Tambi Masayev

Rules of the show

The creators of the project said that the athletes are waiting for the most difficult tests, which will require their strength, agility, endurance, logic and will to win. Conditions for all, of course, will be identical, regardless of whether the site is an amateur athlete or a professional.

All those who have passed the casting will be divided into pairs and represent their state, fighting with representatives of the other. The game itself is divided into three stages: qualifying, semi-finals and finals. At each stage, the participants will have to overcome difficult tests that will show their physical and moral qualities. In the finals there will be only two pairs of participants who will meet in the battle for the main prize.

The main prize

Masters of their craft came here for a reason, their goal is not only the title of the winner of the project and the champion trophy. 64 strongest athletes will fight for 10 million rubles. But only one pair of participants will get it.

Participants of the show “Games Without Borders”

First episode

In the first edition of the sports arena came to the teams of four countries: Russia, USA, China and Iran. Each had to overcome four tests, the winning team goes straight to the semifinals. We will tell you about the competitions of the release, the winner of each bout will be highlighted in bold.

The first challenge: “Cannonballs”.

The participant’s task is to put five cannonballs of his color on the nine-cell court faster than the opponent will do it. Men dragged balls weighing 50 kg, and women – 30 kg. It was allowed to pick up the opponent’s balls and carry them off the field. The game lasted until two victories. For success in the test, a participant brought two points to his country’s piggy bank.

• Karim Khalili (Russia) – Austin Dotson (USA). With the score 2:1.
• Zhou Jinglin (China) – VahidJeddi (Iran). With the score 2:1.
• Janeshia Adams-Gignard (USA) – Sethareh Zarghyar (Iran). With the score 1:2.
• Anastasia Goreyeva (Russia) – Li Rong (China). With the score 2:1.

Results: Russia – four points, China – three points, Iran – two points, USA – one point.

The second test: “Force of Attraction”

The athletes’ task was to push their opponent off the suspended platform, which was 2.5 meters off the floor. Numbered mats were placed on the floor, when falling on them, the athlete who pushed out received the number of points corresponding to the number on the mat. The one who was the first to score five points was the winner.

• Anastasia Goreyeva (Russia) – Li Rong (China). With the score 0:5.
• Janeshia Adams-Gignard (USA) – Sethareh Zarghyar (Iran). With the score 6:1.
• Karim Khalili (Russia) – Vahid Jeddi (Iran). With the score 0:6.
• Zhou Jinglin (China) – Austin Dotson (USA). With the score 0:7.

Results: USA – four points, China – three points, Iran – two points, Russia – one point.

Karim Khalili suffered a shoulder injury and together with Anastasia Goreyeva left the project. Dmitry Nasonov and Inna Konovalyuk were replaced.

The third test: “Sphere of Fear”.

Two athletes participated in a three-minute race on a suspended balloon. One was running away and the other was catching up. The role of the athlete was determined by drawing lots. The contestant who fell off the balloon automatically lost.

• Zhou Jinglin (China) caught up with Austin Dotson (USA).
• Dmitry Nasonov (Russia) was running away from Vahid Jeddi (Iran).
• Inna Konovalyuk (Russia) was catching up with Janeshia Adams-Guignard (USA).
• Sethareh Zargyar (Iran) was running away from Li Rong (China).

Results: China four points, Iran three points, Russia two points, USA one point.

Dmitry Nasonov and Vahid Jeddi played an extra round to determine the pair that would advance to the Road to Olympus test. The winner was Vahid Jeddi, who ran away from the Russian athlete.

The fourth test: “The Road to Olympus”.

The test consisted of two parts. First, each athlete had to drive along the rails, collecting concrete blocks weighing 30 kg in front of him. Then it was necessary to carry two flags of their color across the road from unstable surfaces, also during the race they were hampered by bouncers. The final task for the competitors representing one country was to light a torch, and they had to do it together. Teams from China and Iran participated in the challenge.

The winners were Zhou Jinglin and Li Rong, and as a result of the first edition, the Chinese team advanced to the semifinals. But the show doesn’t end here, and we continue to follow how events unfold on the sports arena of the Games Without Borders.