Taiwanese roller skater Huang Yu-Lin falls victim to his own trick

Taiwanese roller skater Huang Yu-Lin (28) earned the nickname ‘God's Left Foot’ at the Hangzhou Asian Games. That is because he stuck out his left foot during the final of the men's 3,000-meter relay at the Games on Oct. 2 as the last South Korean runner, Chung Chul-won (27), was celebrating, giving his team a 0.01-second come-from-behind victory. "While you were celebrating, I fought to the end," Huang quipped.

On Friday, less than 15 days later, Huang was left speechless. In the men's 1,000-meter final at the Taiwan National Games on Friday, he was hit by the ‘God’s Left Foot’ of his national team’s teammate, Chao Tsu-cheng (28), while performing the ‘premature celebration.’ Huang crossed the finish line with both fists pumped and a cheerful expression‎ on his face, but his face instantly darkened when he realized that Chao, who was to his left, had crossed the finish line first. Video replays showed that Chao (1:27.172) was 0.03 seconds faster than Huang (1:27.202)

"I think I was too complacent after the Asian Games. After returning home, I was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was not in good physical condition," Huang said. Huang also failed to regain his tarnished reputation in the relay for the Pingtung Prefecture, finishing second after Kaohsiung City, led by Chao.

"I'm probably the only person in the world who can understand how Huang is feeling right now," laughed off Chung, who is competing in the roller skating race at the National Games in Naju, South Jeolla Province.


leper@donga.com