Chinese wins tightrope contest across Seoul river

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-04 22:07

SEOUL - A professional tightrope walker from China zipped along a wire strung across the Han River in just under 11 minutes to win Seoul's second international high-wire championship, which concluded Saturday.

Yakefujiang Maimitili, competing Friday on the second day of the three-day contest, beat 26 other competitors in traversing the three-quarter-mile (1 kilometer) -long wire to claim the US$20,000 prize.

Colombia's Alan Martinez came in second place with a time of 11 minutes, 23 seconds. Last year's winner, Abudusataer Wujiabudula of China, finished in 11 minutes, 28 seconds, for third place.

Maimitili, 20, said he has been a tightrope walker since the age of 7, following in his family's tradition in his native Xinjiang in northwestern China.

"I was really excited while I was walking on the rope," Maimitili said Saturday.

Tightrope walking is also a Korean tradition going back centuries, with performers often leaping and turning somersaults in midair - and sometimes even cracking jokes - to entertain onlookers.

A 2005 film, "The King and the Clown," which featured a troupe of entertainers who became court jesters, rejuvenated interest in the Korean tradition.

Organizer Kwon Won-tae, a professional tightrope walker who did the stunt work in the film, also competed this week. He credited the competition with keeping the tradition of tightrope walking alive.

Onlookers watched as competitors walked along the 1.2-inch (30-millimeter) -thick wire, supported by 69-foot (21-meter) -tall towers on the north and south banks of the Han River, which divides the South Korean capital.

No one needed the safety net slung under the wire. Colombia's Marcos Luis Martinez lost his balance at one point but caught himself and managed to run across.

"I am so proud of myself to finish my performance on the single-strand wire," he said.