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Sportacus 10 () is a fictional character from the Icelandic children's television show ''
LazyTown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...
'', created and portrayed by
Magnús Scheving Magnús Örn Eyjólfsson Scheving (; born 10 November 1964) is an Icelandic writer, television producer, entrepreneur, actor, and former athlete. He is best known as the creator of the children's television show '' LazyTown'', on which he serv ...
. His name in English is a
portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.
of the ancient figure
Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...
and the word
sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
, which represents his athleticism. Sportacus humbly describes himself as a "slightly above-average hero", though his friends have a higher opinion of him, calling him a "
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
". Sportacus encourages the children of LazyTown to eat fruits and vegetables (which he calls "sports candy") and play outside instead of sitting around indoors and eating unhealthy food. He wants to make sure LazyTown is happy, and knows that its residents have to be healthy and fit if they want to be happy. He is opposed by the sinister (yet equally energetic) Robbie Rotten, who seeks to return LazyTown to its former state: a lazy town. Sportacus is so engaged in his life of physical activity that he does
parkour Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...
just to get from place to place—even doing acrobatic flips just to get from one side of his kitchen table to the other—and the children have to instruct him on how to relax. Sportacus lives in a large
airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...
above LazyTown, which contains his bed, food, and other equipment, including a signed autograph from Jackie Chan. This is an Easter egg to the actor's portrayal of the villain in ''
The Spy Next Door ''The Spy Next Door'' is a 2010 American spy action comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer and Gregory Poirier, produced by Robert Simonds with music by David Newman. The film stars Jackie Chan, with ...
''.


History of the character

Sportacus 10 was a boy in LazyTown, named Alex. His adversary was another boy named Robbie which teased him. Sportacus 9 came along and convinced the kids to exercise and gave Alex the Sportacus 10 costume. Robbie later became Robbie Rotten and remained the adversary of Sportacus 10. In the original
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic play on which the television series was based, ''Áfram Latibær!'' (''Go LazyTown!'') in 1996, Sportacus was an elf called ''Íþróttaálfurinn'' (The Athletic Elf) who possessed magical powers and wore a navy-blue tunic, baggy green trousers, and a large burnt umber hat. He also had a large, thick, blond moustache and
goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on the chin entirely. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer solely to a bear ...
beard. Sportacus is called Íþróttaálfurinn in all of his Icelandic language appearances, including the Icelandic dub of the TV series. In the second play, ''Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ'' ('' Robbie Rotten in LazyTown''), Sportacus became more similar to his current version. He traveled around in a
hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...
and wore a brown-and-yellow version of his current outfit, albeit with a larger, looser hat and sculpted chest piece. In the TV show, Sportacus wore a blue and white tracksuit, a blue vest, a blue stocking cap with a thick white stripe and thin black stripe on it, light blue goggles, deep blue boots with red, black and white stripes running down them, blue metal bracers on his arms, and a black pointed mustache. He also travelled around in an airship.


Reception

Sportacus has taken part in several health campaigns. In 2010, Sportacus and then first lady of the USA
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
visited the Bruce Monroe school in Washington as part of the
Let's Move! Let's Move! was a public health campaign in the United States led by First Lady Michelle Obama. The campaign aimed to reduce childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in children. The Let's Move! initiative had an initially stated ...
campaign. In 2012 Sportacus visited Wareham Wareham Children’s Centre as part of the Change4Life campaign in the UK. In 2013 Sportacus was the only character from LazyTown that attended a sport campaign in
Egilsstaðir Egilsstaðir () is a town in east Iceland on the banks of the Lagarfljót river. It is part of the municipality of Múlaþing and the largest settlement of the Eastern Region (Iceland), Eastern Region with, as of 2024, a population of 2,632 inha ...
and
Borgarnes Borgarnes () is a town located on a peninsula at the shore of Borgarfjörður in Iceland and is the largest town in the Borgarbyggð municipality with a population of about 3800 residents. It is a main junction in Iceland and the gateway to the ...
in Iceland as part of the European ''Move week'' campaign. In 2006 Magnús Scheving, the Sportacus actor and creator, hired Dýri Kristjánsson as the stuntman for the Sportacus role. In 2014 Dýri took completely over the role of Sportacus, as Magnús was becoming too old for the role. Colombian gymnast Ángel Barajas, who won a silver medal at the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
, cited Sportacus as his inspiration for starting gymnastics.


References


External links

* {{LazyTown LazyTown Fictional elves Television characters introduced in 2004 Fictional male sportspeople Television superheroes Fictional Icelandic people Theatre characters introduced in 1996