Adam Siao Him Fa registered the term remontada in the vocabulary of figure skating, 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 19e in 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 on the short program, that’s really what I wanted”said the 23-year-old skater, speaking about 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 a world championship.
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 close to 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 21e 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 [notre sport] so that he does not die slowly”assumed Adam Siao Him Fa, interviewed In The Team before the Worlds with his friend. Like the forbidden backflip, which he could not imagine attempting during the main competition. “Opinions must changeassured the young American, himself keen on new tricks. Before, we considered 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 synonymous with 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 Niçois hoped to realize his continental domination at the highest level. After a stunning comeback, he can enjoy his first world medal.