It was Ayumu Hirano’s last ride, and the final run of the men’s halfpipe finals at the Beijing Olympics on Friday. Shaun White, the American snowboarder competing in his last Olympic Games, had already fallen, leaving a spot for his successor on the top step of the medals podium.
Hirano, of Japan, was in position to win, and his fans — many of whom were at home for Japan’s National Foundation Day — were glued to the television, waiting for the halfpipe cliffhanger.
Then the television signal dropped, replaced on screens across Japan by a notice that read simply: “Subchannel.