Adam Siao Him Fa

Siao Him Fa was born on 31 January 2001 in Bordeaux, France.^[2] He is the youngest of four children.^[3] His parents, Daniel and Patricia, are originally from Mauritius and moved to France in the early 1980s.^[3] He formerly attended Collège Hubertine Auclert in Toulouse.^[4]

 

Siao Him Fa began learning to skate in 2005 or 2006 in Bordeaux.^[2][4] As a child, he trained under Valerie Sou, Cornelia Paquier, Nathalie Depouilly, and Laurent Depouilly.^[5] He started training in Toulouse in 2011^[4] because Bordeaux's ice rink was not operational.^[3] He debuted on the advanced novice level in March 2013 and won the French novice men's title in March 2014.^[3][6]

Coached by Rodolphe Maréchal and Baptiste Porquet in Toulouse,^[5] Siao Him Fa began appearing on the junior international level in October 2015.^[6] In February, he competed at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, placing tenth in Hamar, Norway.^[7] His ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut came in August 2016. He finished out of the top ten at both of his JGP assignments that season.

In September 2017, Siao Him Fa began training under Brian Joubert at the 2007 World champion's skating club in Poitiers.^[8][9][10] He finished ninth at both of his JGP assignments. After placing fourth on the senior level at the French Championships in December 2017, he took silver at the junior event in February 2018. In March, he qualified for the final segment at the 2018 World Junior Championships; he ranked sixteenth in the short program, nineteenth in the free skate, and seventeenth overall at the event in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Competing in the 2018 JGP series, Siao Him Fa took bronze in Richmond, Canada, and then gold in Yerevan, Armenia.^[11] Due to his results, he qualified to the JGP Final in Vancouver, Canada.^[12] He placed fourth at the Final, setting new personal bests in the free skate and total score.^[13] He won the silver medal at the 2019 French Figure Skating Championships.

Competing at his first European Championships, Siao Him Fa finished in twelfth place, setting three new personal bests in the process. At the 2019 World Junior Championships, he placed eighth in the short program with a clean skate, and another new personal best.^[14]

Dogged by injury in the fall, Siao Him Fa did not repeat his earlier success on the Junior Grand Prix, finishing off the podium at both of his events. In October, he stood on his first ISU Challenger Series podium, taking bronze at the 2019 CS Ice Star. He repeated as French national silver medalist and national junior champion.

In January, Siao Him Fa competed at the 2020 European Championships in Graz, Austria. He was on the verge of not qualifying to the free skate after a poor performance in the short program, but unexpectedly made it in as the twenty-fourth and last to qualify after fellow Frenchman Kévin Aymoz failed to qualify despite previously being considered a favorite for the European men's title.^[15] He performed much better in the free skate, landing three quadruple jumps to place sixth in the segment and rising to eleventh place overall.^[16] He concluded his season with a seventh-place result at the 2020 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.^[17]

Siao Him Fa announced a coaching change on 28 May 2020, deciding to join Laurent Depouilly in Courbevoie.^[18]

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting international travel, the ISU opted to assign the Grand Prix based largely on geographic location. Siao Him Fa was scheduled to make his Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Internationaux de France, but the event was cancelled.^[19] In February, Siao Him Fa won his third straight National silver medal.^[20]

Siao Him Fa finished the season as part of Team France at the 2021 World Team Trophy. He placed eighth in the short program and ninth in the free skate, while the French team finished in fifth place overall.^[21][22][23]

 

Siao Him Fa began the Olympic season competing at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, where he won the silver medal and set three new personal bests.^[24] He was then assigned to the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, winning the silver medal and qualifying a second berth for French men at the 2022 Winter Olympics.^[25] He went on to make his Grand Prix debut at the 2021 Skate America, where he placed ninth.^[26] He was eighth at the 2021 Internationaux de France, setting a new personal best in the free skate.^[27]

After winning the silver medal at the French championships, Siao Him Fa was named to the French Olympic team.^[28] He placed fourteenth in the short program of the Olympic men's event.^[29] He was thirteenth in the free skate but remained in fourteenth overall.^[30]

Siao Him Fa concluded his season at the 2022 World Championships, held in Montpellier, France.^[31] He finished tenth in the short program with a new personal best, and rose to eighth overall with a sixth-place free skate, both scores also new personal bests.^[32][33]

 

Siao Him Fa began the season with his first ever Challenger gold medal at the 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy, and then took a second gold at the Cup of Nice.^[28] On the Grand Prix, he was third in the short program at the 2022 Grand Prix de France, but won the free skate to take the gold medal. This was the first Grand Prix win for a Frenchman since his former coach Brian Joubert won the NHK Trophy in 2009, a fact of which he was "very proud."^[34] He finished third in the short program at the 2022 NHK Trophy, his second event. He said “things didn't go as I planned, but I am positive about tomorrow and will continue to work this way."^[35] He finished fourth in the free skate but came fifth overall.^[36][37]

Disappointed not to have qualified for the Grand Prix Final, Siao Him Fa went on to win his first French national title at the championships in Rouen, beating defending champion Kévin Aymoz by a margin of over twenty points.^[38] Siao Him Fa continued his streak of success into the new year, finishing in first place in the short program at the 2023 European Championships with a new personal best of 96.53. He was "happy" to have finally skated cleanly in the short program internationally that season.^[39][40] He finished second in the free skate, but won the gold medal. This was the first European title for a Frenchman in twelve years since Florent Amodio's victory in 2011.^[41][42]

Siao Him Fa struggled with his jumps in the 2023 World Championships short program, coming in twelfth. He admitted "it's frustrating today, but it's not over yet."^[43] He rose to tenth after the free skate.^[44] Siao Him Fa then joined Team France at the 2023 World Team Trophy, where he was fifth in the short program and tenth in the free skate. Team France finished fifth overall.^[45][46]

 

Siao Him Fa began the season at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where he won the gold medal. He next appeared at the Shanghai Trophy, winning that as well.^[28] He started the Grand Prix at the 2023 Grand Prix de France in Angers, where he won his second consecutive event title ahead of Ilia Malinin of the United States and Yuma Kagiyama of Japan. Siao Him Fa crossed the 100-, 200- and 300-point barriers in the short program, free skate and total score with three new personal best scores of 101.07, 205.71 and 306.78 respectively.^[47] He is the sixth man to achieve a total over 300 points under the current ISU judging system.^[48] Siao Him Fa traveled immediately to Chongqing for the 2023 Cup of China the following weekend, where he placed second in the short program behind reigning World champion Shoma Uno after falling on his quad toe loop attempt. He overtook Uno in the free skate, rising to the gold medal position. He said he was "satisfied" with the result given that he was competing back-to-back and dealt with an equipment problem in practice.^[49]

Qualifying to the 2023–24 Grand Prix Final, Siao Him Fa doubled his planned quad Lutz in the short program, finishing sixth of six skaters in that segment and more than fifteen points back of third place. In the free skate he made two minor quad jump errors, and had a technical fall after losing his balance in his choreographic sequence, placing third in that segment and rising to fourth place overall. He was 10.37 points behind bronze medalist Kagiyama. Speaking afterward he acknowledged that coming into the event as one of the podium favourites had been a new challenge for him.^[50] Siao Him Fa then returned to France for the national championships in Vaujany the following weekend, where he decisively won his second French championship.^[51]

 

Siao Him Fa entered the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas as the favourite for the gold medal, and he won the short program despite putting a hand down on his quad Lutz and performing only a quad-double combination instead of a quad-triple. He made errors in the free skate, but he won that segment as well and comfortably retained his European title by a margin of almost twenty points overall.^[52] He attracted notice for performing an illegal on-ice backflip at the end of his program, drawing comparisons to fellow French skater Surya Bonaly.^[53][54] Siao Him Fa called it "a little French touch."^[52] The following month, his free program was named Best Program at the 2024 ISU Skating Awards.^[55]

In March, he entered the 2024 World Championships in Montreal as a perceived podium contender. However, he encountered difficulties in the short program, struggling on the landings of all three of his jumping passes and failing to execute a jump combination. He scored only 77.49 points in the segment, coming nineteenth. As a result, he skated in the first of four flights in the free skate, but he executed a clean program to come second in the free skate with a score of 206.90, despite incurring a two-point deduction for performing a backflip at the end. He finished third overall, winning the bronze medal over fourth-place Uno by 3.54 points. This was the first World medal for a Frenchman since Brian Joubert's bronze medal in 2010. Siao Him Fa called it "the best performance of my life."^[56]

During the off-season, Siao Him Fa's coach and choreographer, Benoît Richaud, made the decision to create two completely different short programs for Siao Him Fa to skate to during the season. One program was choreographed to the ballad, SOS d'un terrien en détresse from musical, Starmania, while the other one was set to a mashup of hip hop songs, "Gangsta's Paradise" and "X Gon' Give It to Ya." Richaud stated that this was deliberately done so that Siao Him Fa would have a wide selection of different short program vehicles to use.^[57][58] Siao Him Fa also said that having two short programs added interest and made his training less repetitive.^[59]

In late September, Siao Him Fa announced that he and his team decided that he would postpone competing until the 2024 Grand Prix de France due to an ankle injury sustained before the start of the season.^[60][61] Despite these comments, Siao Him Fa would end up competing two weeks prior the Grand Prix de France at the 2024 CS Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, where he would win the gold medal.^[28]

At the Grand Prix de France, Siao Him Fa placed a disappointing eighth in the short program after falling two times, but he would go on to win the free skate, winning the event overall for a third consecutive time.^[62][63] After the event, he said that there were "plenty of positives" about the competition despite the lack of time he had to prepare for it and having issues with broken boots and that he was planning adjustments to his programs.^[59]

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adam Siao Him Fa.

• AdamSiao.com (official website)  
• Adam Siao Him Fa at the International Skating Union  
• Adam Siao Him Fa at SkatingScores.com
• Adam Siao Him Fa at Rink Results
• Adam Siao Him Fa at Olympedia  
• Adam Siao Him Fa at Olympics.com  
• Adam Siao Him Fa at Équipe de France Olympique (archived) (in French)