01/29/26 12:47:00
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01/29 12:46 CST After a terrifying fall, Red Panda retraces what went wrong and
the support that carried her back
After a terrifying fall, Red Panda retraces what went wrong and the support
that carried her back
By ALANIS THAMES
AP Sports Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) --- Rong Niu's pink sequined dress shimmered under the
arena lights at a recent Miami men's basketball game.
The popular halftime performer known as "Red Panda" finished her signature
seven-minute set, looked up at a crowd of fans chanting her name and flashed a
smile before dismounting.
Cameras rose instantly. A Hurricanes band member shouted "I love you, Red
Panda!" A security guard shook his head in disbelief as a nearby fan asked
aloud, "How does she do that?" Members of the Hurricanes' dance team lined up
for photos with her before she made her exit.
Niu has grown somewhat accustomed to the fanfare over decades performing at
NBA, WNBA and college basketball games --- her first halftime show was a Los
Angeles Clippers game in 1993. Still, even after sports fans rallied around her
following a frightening fall during a WNBA game last July, she can hardly put
words to what the support means to her.
"I feel so much support," Niu said after performing at Miami's home game
against Stanford on Wednesday. "It's beyond support --- I don't know. I don't
have a better word to describe that feeling. That was beyond appreciation."
Niu comes from a family of performing acrobats. She's been doing it since age
7, when her father first discovered her talent by helping her balance bowls and
bricks on her head at their home in China's Shanxi province.
Her act is composed of her riding a custom-built unicycle, which stretches
about 8 feet above the court, and balancing custom-made bowls on her lower leg
before flipping them atop her head.
During intermission of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final between the Indiana
Fever and the Minnesota Lynx, Niu fell off her unicycle and crashed to the
court a minute into her performance. She remained down for several minutes, was
eventually helped off by wheelchair and later diagnosed with a broken left
wrist.
"I now realize I was disoriented. It was not just pain right here," Niu said
Wednesday, pointing to her left wrist, which she recalled being swollen and in
immense pain. "I wasn't very clear because of the impact. They said, ?Can you
walk?' I said, ?Yes,' and then I tried to stand up and walk. And then, I think
I was passing out."
She spent 11 hours in a Minneapolis hospital, with a pair of Lynx staffers
there with her the entire time. As she lay in the hospital bed, she wondered
what could have gone wrong during the act she'd performed so many times.
"I'm not saying I'm that good or anything," she said. "I generally don't fall.
Bowls fall, because the bowls are going into the air and sometimes I'm not able
to control (them). But riding the unicycle ... it shouldn't be out of control."
Niu returned to the arena after being released from the hospital. Her unicycle
was in the same place she'd left it in her dressing room.
She began to inspect it, checking the rotation of the wheel, looking at the
handle. Then she noticed one of her pedals was slightly bent. She typically
wraps her equipment very carefully when she travels, but it had somehow been
damaged in transit; whether during security checks or on the airplane, she's
not sure.
"Normally I would set up the unicycle. I will test it. I test like this," she
said, turning her wheel as she demonstrated her process of checking the
equipment. "I test it. But I didn't test (the pedal)."
Niu still shudders at the memory of the fall, which required surgery and about
four months of recovery, but she received an outpouring of support on social
media, including from Fever star Caitlin Clark, as well as cards and gifts.
She returned to action on Oct. 23 for an Amazon Prime event, then back to the
NBA court on Nov. 1 for a game between Chicago and Philadelphia.
Returning to the court hasn't been easy.
"I still have the thoughts," she said. "I still have the thoughts when I start
pedaling."
But as fans chant her name, foregoing halftime trips to concession stands and
restrooms to watch her perform, Niu is filled with both gratitude and
motivation.
"I want to show that I can do this," she said. "But (when) I couldn't do it,
they still chanted for me. I feel I owe them something. I feel very
appreciative. I don't have the best words to describe that feeling, but it's a
lot of support. It goes in my heart."
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
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