List of American Gladiators Events - How Eliminator Was Conducted

How Eliminator Was Conducted

The Eliminator was originally a timed and scored event. The contenders were given a set time of 60 seconds (later 90 and then 75 for the women) to complete the course, with both starting at the same time. Each second left on the clock when the contender crossed the finish line was worth two (originally 5) points. Any falls on the course or other violations resulted in 5 or 10 (originally 25) point deductions.

The trailing contender would have their deficit divided by two (five), and the number left would be the number of seconds they had to beat their opponent by. Doing so won them the competition. If they managed to tie their opponent, they would advance based on faster time.

Starting in season 3 (including the 2008 revival), the contender in the lead was given a head start based on how big their lead was, with each point being worth a half-second in time. (For example, a 10 point lead would be a 5 second head start). The trailing contender then had to make that deficit up. If there is a tie before the Eliminator, however, both contenders start at the same time. Also, the contenders had no time limit to complete the course. The contender who finished first won the match, regardless of score. From season 3 to season 7, if a contender managed to fall off the handbikes, the contender was detained by a Gladiator, 10 seconds for the women, and 7 seconds for the men. In the 2008 revival, no penalty was announced, but video evidence appears to show several contenders detained after falling off the handbike.

From season 5 on, there were no Gladiators operating any obstacles in the Eliminator, but in seasons 5 and 6 two Gladiators and a Game Judge were used in the Penalty Pit for the purpose of "enforcing" the time penalty for any contender that fell off the hand bike. The referee was now positioned at the end of the course, on the treadmill, instead of the start line; at the start line, the game judge would start the competition, and often the referee or second game judge would assist if the two start times were very close. In Season 7 and the 2008 revival, no Gladiators were present anywhere on the course.

Often in Season 3, the finish line created controversy over who crossed the line first as many photo finishes took place. There was no "player's torso" rule on crossing the tape, and often it was decided which part of the contender's body crossed the marked finish line won the game, not the torso crossing over the tape.

In the first and second season the contender who got off the swing over the barrier or zipline first would have a choice between which lane to take. For seasons 3, 4, and earlier rounds in 5, the player who arrived first at the end of the zip line took the outside line the player who arrived second took the inner line. Late in season 5, whoever got off the zipline first took the inside lane and the second one off took the outside. In very close races, the Game Judge would inform which player had which lane.

Although it rarely happened, there were several occasions where a contender had to withdraw from the competition following the last event. The series dealt with this on a case by case basis. In the first season, a female contender had to withdraw due to injuries in the first-half semifinals and her opponent moved on to the finals without having to run the Eliminator. In the two cases this happened in season two, the sole remaining contender ran the course anyway for scoring and seeding in the next round. The only other time it happened after that was during the second half of season three, and like in season one the injury was treated as a forfeit and the opponent advanced.