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Taiwanese ice skating fans come to the rescue when power blacks out during skaters’ performance

Dale Roll Feb 2, 2018
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What do you do when the power goes out during your favorite sport? Bust out your cellphone, of course!

Think about your worst nightmare. Are you making a speech at school when suddenly you’re naked? Walking around with your fly undone? Riding a train whose doors stay open even while it’s moving? Performing a stunning figure skating routine when suddenly the lights go out?

Okay, the last one might not apply to you, but that’s what happened to a pair of figure skaters at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship in Taipei last week. Luckily, the scored competition rounds had already ended and only the no-pressure exhibition performances remained. Still, it’s got to be at least a little bit frustrating to have the lights suddenly disappear and the music stop in the middle of your exultant final performance, especially after a grueling competition between the finest skaters of the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

U.S. figure skating pair Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea weren’t perturbed though. Probably coming off of the high of winning the gold medal for their competitive performance, they finished off the tail-end of their exhibition hand-in-hand in the dim illumination of the emergency lights.

▼ It was in the middle of a trick like this that the power seemed to go out, as the recorded video suddenly goes black shortly after this pose (see below for video).

Unfortunately, when Chinese skater and fan favorite Boyang Jin, the gold-medalist of the men’s solo category who is revered for his difficult performance elements, tentatively took to the ice, it was starting to look like the rest of the performances would be cancelled.

But Taiwanese fans were there to help. In a scene like something out of the figure skating anime Yuri!!! On Ice, spectators all around the rink banded together in silent camaraderie, and switched on their smartphone flashlights to create a DIY light source that was bright enough for the rink to be easily seen. With small bright lights floating around and even reflecting on the ice, it looked like little fairies were dancing in the air, and suddenly it changed from an embarrassing and frustrating moment to a magical and uplifting one.

Though the power outage caused the remaining exhibitions to be cancelled, the skaters felt bolstered by the support of the fans, and came back out on the ice for a final bow in the romantic low-light, without music or spotlights. Boyang Jin, encouraged by fan calls for an encore performance, attempted another one of his spectacular quadruple lutz jumps just for them, though it didn’t come out quite as perfect as it had been during the competition, probably because he was overcome with emotion.

After what could have been a calamity for the event, which was apparently caused by an issue at a nearby electrical substation, it’s really heart-warming to see a deepened connection between the skaters and their fans form instead. In a sport where the pressure is always high to perform perfectly, the athletes must appreciate receiving such love and support from the stands, and the fans probably enjoy feeling like there’s something they can do to help their favorite skaters.

But we have to say that this would’ve been a great chance for champion skater Yuzuru Hanyu to do a performance with a real lightsaber…because how cool would that have looked in the low light?

Source: Livedoor News via My Game News Flash
Featured image: YouTube/TSkate
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: YouTube/TSkate, YouTube/Xecret Agent