Eliminator (Gladiators)
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The Eliminator is an event played in the television series Gladiators. This is the final event of the show in which the shows contenders race against each other over an assault course, ending with the travelator, with the first to finish becoming the winner of the show moving on to the next round (or in the case of the final, winning the series). It is the only event to appear in every episode of Gladiators across all territories and incarnations. It is also the only event in which the Gladiators do not compete.
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[edit] Headstart
Prior to the Eliminator, contenders face Gladiators over a number of events, picking up points should they be successful. The points difference between the two contenders by the end of the last event is halved and converts to a time advantage (0.5 headstart for each point lead). Should there be no points difference, then the contenders both start at the same time.
[edit] Injury
Should a contender endure an injury and pull out after the final event against the Gladiators, then they are not replaced by a substitute and their opponent wins by default. The winner does not have to race the Eliminator course unless a qualifying time is needed in order to progress to the next round or in cases where a prize is awarded for the quickest Eliminator time.
[edit] Rules
Contenders must only use the side of the course that is assigned to them and must not skip any part of the course or deliberatly impede their opponents progress. Contenders must start on their allocated whistles. Should they not complete part of the course then they may have to either restart the particular peice of apparatus or face a time penalty.
The winner is the first participant to cross the finish line. In the event of a tie, a video replay will be shown. Should this prove inconclusive, then the Eliminator is re-run with both participants starting simultaneously.
Shoudl oth particpants fail to reach the top of the travelator after numerous attempts, then the event is halted and after a short rest period, both contenders start again simultaneously from the same point.
[edit] International differences
The layout for the Eliminator courses varied greatly over the years across the different territories. America was the only country to have Gladiators form part of the event for a short period.
In the UK, from series 5 (1996) to series 7 (1998), a competition was introduced in which the male and female contender who clocked up the quickest Eliminator time for their gender during the series was given a cash prize.
Although often referred to as 'The Eliminator' most promotional material and event cards for the shows visually label the event simply as 'Eliminator'
