No. 46 Slovakians Kasicka, Vidasic perform last dance

The night would go from elegant to an “ice hockey atmosphere” whenever Helena Kasicka and Peter Vidasic took the dance floor, creating special memory for the Slovakian couple as they performed in the last competition of their careers.

Kasicka and Vidasic announced their retirements after sweeping all three of their events at the 2016 IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships. Their gold-medal performances mixed with a fired-up crowd marks No. 46 in the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Top 50 Moments of 2016.

The Slovakian tandem won the European titles in the combi standard and combi freestyle class 1. Although displaying their strengths in ballroom dancing and freestyle choreography, their Achilles heels have been in Latin dances.

They finished second in the combi Latin at the last four World Championships and in the last two European Championships.
So when they heard their names as gold medallists in the combi Latin, and in front of their home crowd, the two had an emotional embrace.

“For us this is a special prize because eight years we have been trying to win the Latin,” said Vidasic after the competition in October.

The pair said they changed “everything” in their combi Latin routine since the 2015 World Championships in Rome, Italy.

“We had some new dances, new choreographies and sometimes I was out of my mind because it was so heavy and a lot of changes,” Kasicka said. “We were always trying something new, and now it finally happened that we could win the title.”

Each turn, twirl and artistic element they performed drew cheers from the crowd, and the opportunity to celebrate their victories – and last professional performances – with their hometown crowd in Kosice made the moment memorable.

“It is special because we won at home,” Vidasic said.

Developing in Asia
European nations have proven to be strong in wheelchair dance sport.

But the sport also saw a milestone this year when the first ever Asian Championships were held in November in New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei.

Around 50 athletes from five countries graced the dance floor, and it was South Korea who stole the show with six gold medals, and the home crowd also witnessed two gold-medal performances.

To find out more about the IPC’s Top 50 Moments of 2016, visit the dedicated page on the IPC’s website.