Breaking news: Daisuke expressed his desire to compete till Sochi!!!
It was an unbelievable sight. Takahashi came into the free skate from 3rd place in the short program, aiming for a miracle win over Chan who was 12.77 points ahead of him.
When he took off on the quad toeloop at the beginning of the program, he "lost his grasp." The screw in the heel which fastened the blade to his left skating boot had fallen off.
Skaters are only allowed a 3 minute break at the most. If it takes more than that they will get a deduction.
Takahashi skated off the rink and had his blade screwed back on by his physical trainer. He went back on the ice and started his performance from where he left off.
But as a consequence of the accident, his skating boot itself had broken. He stepped out of his triple axel and fell on his triple salchow.
"This is the first time in competition that the screw fell off," said Takahashi. He checked his skating boots every night, and there were no problems when he checked before this competition. He reflected calmly.
"Anything I say now will only be an excuse. This is my own mistake and there's nothing I can do about it. I was unlucky."
At the same time, he found a new passion burning inside. He expressed his desire to continue competing till the next Olympic Games.
"I can not end it like this. Since this happened in Russia, the next chance (for redemption) will be in Sochi. This incident is a good excuse for me to continue."
At one point he had thought about retiring after Vancouver Olympics where he won the bronze medal, but he decided to continue till the World Championships this season.
He was still unsure about the next season, but this nightmare accident lit fire to his competitive spirit.
There are three more years till Sochi. Takahashi will be 28 years old in March 2014.
"I have to work really hard to compete against the younger skaters. I might not be able to stay on the top, but I will give it my best, thinking that it will be a good life experience for me."
In May, he is scheduled to remove the bolt in his right knee, which was planted during the operation he took in the autumn of 2008.
Takahashi will start over again, aiming for the gold medal three years from now.
Source (quick translation by me)
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