With this victory at the Grand Prix de France, Adam Siao Him Fa wins the competition for the third consecutive time, despite returning from an injury. Rising impressively from eighth to first place, he confirms his reputation as a comeback specialist.
Solène: What’s your assessment of the competition?
Adam: There are plenty of positives. This is only my second competition since coming back from injury. It’s not perfect, which is to be expected; I’m not in peak form yet. I still have a lot of work ahead and I only had five weeks of preparation. I have perspective now and know the key areas to work on. Benoît and I have planned a few adjustments, especially regarding the spins. We’ll also be changing the costume for the short program. As the season progresses, some jumps will be modified as well.
Solène: About the spins, why was one invalidated in the short program? Was it due to the height of the sit position?
Adam: I think so. We haven’t had the judges’ debrief yet, but I assume I was too high. I can’t think of any other reason. Then, there’s my Flying Camel spin where a level wasn’t counted. I believe it’s the heel transition, but I’m not certain.
Solène: This heel transition is new. It's interesting because before, only Aleksandr Selevko did it. Now, many skaters are trying it because it's been added as a level-four criterion. Since when have you been doing this variation?
Adam: I learned it in September, so it’s pretty recent. With the rule change limiting spins to two variations, I needed an additional criterion for the Flying Camel spin beyond the edge change, which I’m not proficient at. I tested several options, and this one seemed the most feasible.
Solène: Regarding the short program costume, what’s your take on the hood? Did it bother you?
Adam: I think the hood is a good idea, but having several layers and a somewhat loose costume doesn’t necessarily help, as I’m used to skating in more fitted clothes. We’re considering how to optimize the costume. We’ve already started discussing this with my coaches.
Solène: Why did you choose to alternate between two short programs this year?
Adam: After last season, Benoît suggested I might try multiple programs. I liked the idea of switching from one program to another in different competitions. It feels less repetitive, both for me in training and for the audience. It adds a surprise factor, wondering which program I’ll present at each competition.
Solène: It’s also twice the work.
Adam: Of course, it’s more work, but it’s been easier than I expected.
Solène: This year, in the short program, you put the third jump in the bonus section. In previous years, you said you liked the program’s composition as it was, without a bonus. What prompted this change?
Adam: We thought it would be interesting to try a new setup: two jumps, then the spin, and then a choreography section. This way, I don’t feel like I’m splitting technique from artistry, doing all the technical parts first and then the artistic. I’m really aiming to blend both from start to finish.
Solène: On which quadruple jump did you injure yourself this summer?
Adam: The first time, it was on the quad flip. I planted in a hole, my foot got stuck in the ice, and my body kept rotating. Not fun (smiles). I resumed quickly as I was on tour in Japan, and without rest, the repeated impact took a toll on my foot. I re-injured myself on a step-out on a quad Salchow, with my ankle still too fragile and not strong enough, so it got worse. This time, I had no choice but to take a six-week complete break from the ice.
Solène: You’re entering your two Grand Prix events as the favorite, which wasn’t the case last year with Ilia Malinin and Shoma Uno in the mix. But maybe you don’t feel this way due to your recent injury. How has this been for you?
Adam: Initially, I put too much pressure on myself for this Grand Prix. Coming back from injury, knowing I wasn’t 100% ready, that I hadn’t trained much, and that I broke my boot the day before, all that added to the pressure.
Solène: You do seem to break your boots often…
Adam: Yes, it’s getting a bit tiresome (laughs). Knowing I’m not at my best level is frustrating and added unnecessary pressure. After the short program, I realized it was okay, not life-or-death, and that this was just part of the comeback process.
Solène: Naturally, we’re drawing parallels between Worlds and this Grand Prix due to the two comebacks. But after the short program, your reaction seemed different from what it was in Montreal.
Adam: Yes, because I didn’t have any specific placement or result goal in Angers. It was frustrating not to have landed the Axel, the toe loop and also my spins. I thought, "This is a poor program," but it’s fine, let’s move on to the free skate. I didn’t beat myself up like I did in Montreal, where I thought the podium was out of reach. Honestly, in Angers, I wasn’t even thinking about that. I knew I was 14 points behind the leader, not 30. I know my technical content and that of the other skaters, but I wasn’t really focusing on it. My mindset was simply to skate my program. I attack my jumps, it’s a competition against myself. The result, we’ll see later.
Solène: Speaking of the technical content of other skaters, Mikhail Shaidorov landed the first triple Axel quad toe loop combination in Angers. What did you think, and have you tried it?
Adam: It’s incredible; I’m very impressed. I’ve tried this combination before, but I don’t think it’s for me (laughs).
Solène: I understand you didn’t feel ready for this Grand Prix and had no placement goal, but I’m still surprised because your performances at the Coupe de Nice were quite good.
Adam: That’s true. To be honest, the Coupe de Nice was my first clean short program with all three jumps landed since my injury recovery. Actually, before the Coupe de Nice, I only had two weeks of work on the program, which is very little. The result in Nice was very positive. Let’s just say that during those two days, the programs were better than on some other days.
Solène: The excitement of the backflip last year was in its forbidden, unique aspect. Now, the element is allowed, and other skaters are doing it too. It’s lost some of its thrill. Did you consider not including it in your programs?
Adam: Yes, we thought about taking it out, but we felt it fits well with the music, especially in “SOS d’un Terrien en détresse” with the lyrics “Je vois le monde à l'envers” (“I see the world upside down”). In the hip-hop program, it also matches the music. But recently, we’ve considered possibly removing it. It’s true the “magic” is less than before, when no one else dared do it. Still, it remains an interesting choreographic element.
Solène: You know Clément Pinel, a backflip specialist who does some wild variations of it. Does that inspire you?
Adam: Yes, actually, that was in the plans before I got injured. We were considering a twisted backflip, like Ilia did recently, and the umbrella twist. We talked about it last year in Japan. There were other acrobatics I wanted to try, but I ran out of time… and now’s no longer the time to work on those! I have to be reasonable, especially after a pretty bad fall in April, which cooled my enthusiasm for such stunts. I recently posted the video on my TikTok!
Solène Mathieu - Skate Info Glace
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