Adam Siao Him Fa added the term “remontada” to the figure skating vocabulary on Sunday March 24. We thought the Frenchman was out of the race, after his failed appearance in the short program of the world figure skating championship. But the European champion managed to achieve a top performance in the free program to move up from 19th to third place (206.90 points and 284.39 points overall), to the cheers of the public at the Center Bell Arena in Montreal (Canada).
“I’m happy to have gotten my revenge from the short program, it’s really what I wanted,” said the 23-year-old skater, speaking of the “best performance” of his life. Adam Siao Him Fa performed his four quadruple jumps to perfection and even had the luxury of giving up two points by performing a backflip, a move prohibited in the discipline. Like during the European Championships in January, which he flew over, but with much higher stakes, on the biggest world stage.
The Frenchman thus beat the double title holder, Shoma Uno (280.85 points), who paid for his fall and his blunders in the free program, to get on the podium. He is the first Habs, since Brian Joubert (third in 2010), to win a medal in figure skating at the World Championships.
The competition was won by the 19-year-old American nugget, Ilia Malinin (333.76 points), author of a quadruple axel – a figure that he is the only one to have performed in competition – and a free program bordering perfection. The Japanese Yuma Kagiyama (309.65 points) took the second step of the podium. Luc Economides, the other Frenchman entered in this competition, finished 21st with 217.10 points.
Friend of Adam Siao Him Fa, Ilia Malinin shares with the Frenchman a less restrictive vision of their sport, not hesitating to go beyond the imposed frameworks. “We would like to dust off [our sport] so that it does not die slowly,” assumed Adam Siao Him Fa, interviewed in L’Equipe before the Worlds with his friend. Like the banned “backflip”, which he could not imagine attempting during the premier competition. “Opinions must change,” assured the young American, himself keen on new figures. We used to consider salto dangerous, but our sport has evolved so much! » And both found themselves, all smiles, on the world podium on Sunday.
“This championship has been full of ups and downs for me. It was a lot of emotion,” reacted Adam Siao Him Fa after collecting his medal. Crowned European champion in January for the second time, the adopted native of Nice hoped to realize his continental domination at the highest level. After a stunning comeback, he can enjoy his first world medal.
