Until yesterday, skaters in Taiwan could only watch top-level skateboarding on imported videos.
But then Chad Fernandez, Chet Thomas and Jayme Fortune came to town and basically showed everyone, like, exactly how skilled one can become on a board with enough talent, perseverance and guts.
The three Americans came to Taipei on an Asian tour organized by a shoe company and put on an hour-long show of stunts that had the crowd of several hundred cheering and hooting.
The promoters had roped off a large section of the square behind the Hsinyi Mitsukoshi (信義新光三越) department store building and fitted the space with a small launch ramp, two large ramps at one end, three different height platforms and two long handrails.
The pros then stunned the audience by going through their long list of tricks to do on these standard street-style skating obstacles.
Jayme Fortune struck with a series of technical maneuvers and was consistently impressive for his consistency on high airs over the platform.
Chad Fernandez, meanwhile, landed probably the most explosive trick by jumping from one of the large ramps to the other over a 2m gap.
Chet Thomas, one of the veterans of the professional skating tour, managed several kickflip variations on one of the high ramps, but couldn't pull off a massive frontside 1800 kickflip off the small launch ramp despite dozens of tries.
Yesterday's demonstration was not a competition event, so the skaters felt free to try some tricks that they do not land with high consistency but that were obvious crowd pleasers, like Fernandez' ramp-to-ramp transfer.
The most technical trick, which occurred while the pros were on the course at the same time with some of the best local skaters and didn't catch most people's eye, was a beautifully executed hardflip on the large ramp by Thomas.
Those that did see it, though, were duly impressed and even more so by Thomas' nonchalant demeanor after landing it.
The pros offered a mixed bag of tricks that even non-skaters appreciated and technical maneuvers for afficianados.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
RSS