He already thought he had abandoned any chance of a medal, after a catastrophic short program on Wednesday, punctuated by three landing errors and a nineteenth place finish.
Adam Siao Him Fa, however, offered himself a brilliant revenge, this Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, by winning bronze at the end of a sensational free program.
The Frenchman was only beaten by the American Ilia Malinin and the Japanese Yuma Kagiyama.
WORLD BRONZE MEDAL 🥉
19th at the end of the short program, Adam Siao Him Fa performed an exceptional free program which allowed him to climb onto the podium of the World Figure Skating Championships✨pic.twitter.com/Jagnvdz24l
— Equipe France (@EquipeFRA) March 24, 2024
Given the outlay he had accumulated in the first event, the double European champion had to put out an immaculate performance to hope for a rise in the rankings.
This is what he did, by chaining together quadruple jumps, even if he allowed himself a fantasy: a backflip normally prohibited in competition, which made him lose two points but won over the public.
Enough to finish with a total of 206.90 points, the second best score in this final in the freestyle.
Waiting for his competitors to pass, he then took advantage of the falls of the double title holder Shoma Uno to slip onto the podium.
The “performance of his life”
“This championship has really been synonymous with ups and downs for me.
It was a lot of emotion, confided Adam Siao Him Fa, satisfied with the “performance of my life”.
I'm happy to have gotten my revenge from the short program, that's really what I wanted.
» Author of a great start to the season, with two Grand Prix victories and a continental coronation, the 23-year-old skater had made this medal a goal.
Like all the others, however, he suffered the law of Ilia Malinin, winner by a considerable margin.
Yet third after the short program, the junior world champion, only 19 years old, dazzled the judges with a quadruple axel, he who is the only one to have achieved this figure in competition.
This is his first senior world title.