Hero on High Wire
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
A high-wire walker rescued one of his colleagues, who was stuck in the middle of the rope over the Han River after accidentally losing his balancing pole.
In the one-kilometer speed division of the 2009 Hangang High Wire World Championship held Saturday, Bekhzod Tashkenbaev of Uzbekistan lost his balance and dropped the pole.
Though there were lifeboats in the water, Tashkenbaev was unable to jump due to a back injury he sustained in a previous fall. He could not walk back to the starting point without his pole. The rescue unit tried to save him by throwing a rope to him but failed.
Alfred Nock Junior of Switzerland then volunteered to save the troubled high-wire walker. Nock approached Tashkenbaev and helped him stand up again and they returned to the riverside safely.
``I was out of balance because of the instability of the wire for a moment,'' said Tashkenbaev, who thanked Nock for saving him.
Nock became the hero on the tightrope again on Sunday, saving Ya Kefujiang Maimitili of China this time, who lost his balancing pole as well.
The funambulism championship is a part of Hi Seoul Festival started in 2007. It concluded Sunday with more than 20 athletes from 12 countries participating in the event.