Adam "Slay" SIAO Him Fa fan thread

[Sylvia]

I think the 2024 World bronze medalist and 2-time European champion deserves his own fan thread.

Adam Siao Him Fa recently publicized his YouTube channel (created on February 3, 2023) via his social media - 5 shorts uploaded so far: https://www.youtube.com/@adamslayhimfa

Official website: https://www.adamsiao.com/ (last updated after 2024 Europeans)
IG account: https://www.instagram.com/adam.siao

Article by Josie-Anne Taillon for Radio-Canada Sports (March 25, 2024) - Adam Siao Him Fa's crazy day:

La folle journée d’Adam Siao Him Fa

Le jeune patineur français a conquis la foule montréalaise avec une remontée époustouflante samedi lors du programme libre aux mondiaux de patinage artistique.

ici.radio-canada.ca

Translated excerpts:

But the journey of Frenchman Adam Siao Him Fa is worthy of a film script.
The 23-year-old skater arrived in Montreal with the weight of French figure skating on his shoulders. [...]
The young prodigy, however, collapsed during his short program, missing all of his jumps. A good performance for 19th place, very far from expectations and not at all up to his talent. [...]
In France, the media were merciless.
Adam Siao Him Fa has abandoned any chance of a medal, writes Le Parisien, which adds: It's a real disappointment for French skating.
Adam Siao Him Fa in distress, headlines L'Équipe, with an unflattering photo.

On Saturday, when the skater took the ice, the best he could do was move up the rankings, definitely a top 10, maybe a top 5.
With nothing left to lose, the young man performed the triple and quadruple jumps with the confidence and consistency that he lacked during the short program, to deliver a simply perfect free program.
Formidable, exceptional, extraordinary, sublime, said analyst Alain Goldberg, who is not known for his restraint.
And this is not to be made up, Adam Siao Him Fa skated to an extract from The Quality of Mercy, by Max Richter. The Montreal public granted him mercy. The spectators gave him a standing ovation even before the end of his program and, to thank them, the fiery skater added a backflip, although banned in competition by the international federation. He was penalized two points for this gesture, but the crowd was delighted.

In an interview with Radio-Canada Sports, Adam Siao Him Fa stressed that his somersault was not planned when asked if it was a snub to the federation.
It was a surprise, Siao Him Fa began. After the last element, I said to myself: "I have done all my work, I know that for the podium, it might not be this year, will be for later. For this program, I said to myself: “We’re doing it.” For personal pleasure, but also for the public, because I think we need to give a little something new to our sport.

The young man responded with a smirk, the same as his coaches when they were pointed out the treatment that the French media had reserved for him the day before. [...]
The tone of our French colleagues has changed.
Huge, wrote L’Équipe. [...]
The perfection of the American Ilia Malinin left its mark on Saturday, as did the tenacity and bravado of the young Frenchman.
It promises for the next season and the 2026 Olympic Games.

Adam's epic FS video (NOT geoblocked ) is embedded at the top of the article.

 

[Sylvia]

And the FIRST mention of Adam's skating here on FSU goes, of course , to @Nmsis back on April 11, 2015 (linked video still plays) in the original "News and updates à la Française" thread in GSD:

A little preview of the potential french entries in the JGP
Boys - If 2014-2015 rule stays, 1 entry in 4 events ...
Adam Siao Him Fa , 14yo - Toulouse - Hopefully, the future leader of the boys when Amodio retires post Pyeongchang. Has started to do 3lz and 3f at the end of this season. Given the few entries there are for the french boys, I really hope the fed will not hold him back or make him feel he's not in the right club by not giving him a JGP.

Posted on October 15, 2017 in the 3rd French news thread in GSD:

Siao Him Fa has been training with Joubert for 6 months. At most.
He was coached as a young boy (as were all his siblings) by Laurent Depouilly in Bordeaux.
Then Depouilly left Bordeaux (first to coach Joubert in 2009-2010, then to go to South Africa as his rink in Bordeaux was being torn down). Adam's older brother Benjamin who was a promising young skater stopped competing.
Adam then moved away from his family to train in Toulouse with Rodolphe Maréchal and Baptiste Porquet (the first is from Candeloro's generation, the other competed with young Joubert). But they didn't have the training conditions / hours to push Adam further.
So he has now moved to Poitiers where Brian is starting his own club.

 

[alexikeguchi]

And the FIRST mention of Adam's skating here on FSU goes, of course , to @Nmsis back on April 11, 2015 (linked video still plays) in the original "News and updates à la Française" thread in GSD:

Wow to Nmsis, what an eye for talent! I'm struck as I was with videos of Ilia Malinin at a similar age that the jumps were not what set these skaters apart but rather great ease of movement on the ice and innate showmanship even if interpretive skills were less fully developed.

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting here ):

Check out my new interview with Adam Siao Him Fa--he talks about how he got started in skating, his artistic & technical growth, why he thinks the backflip is important, and his future goals.

Adam Siao Him Fa: "I want to skate in a way that no one did before" - A divine sport

Adam Siao Him Fa of France talks about his history-making performance at the World Championships in Montreal, where he jumped from 19th place after the short program all the way to a World bronze medal.

adivinesport.com

One of Adam's latest Instagram stories shows he is in NYC right now.

 

[Sylvia]

Trivia about Adam’s last/family name (SIAO) that I learned today - thanks to @zebobes @On My Own @Vagabond !

This is because Siao Him Fa is the phonetic version of his full Chinese Name, so which makes Siao his surname. I've never met any other Chinese person who does it in this order, but the world is full of variations!

ETA these 2 clarifications from the same thread in GSD:

According to a friend, Siao Him Fa is actually his grandfather's name. His own Chinese name is actually 萧传文 -> Xiao Chuanwen read in Mandarin. (Siao indicates a different dialect than Mandarin)
So Xiao/Siao would be the family name, and Chuanwen (or however it's read in his dialect) would be the given name.
BTW, he's called 笑笑 in Chinese fan circles. 笑=Xiao so similar to his family name (not the same pronunciation though). And it means "laugh" or "lol" too. Not sure if there's a specific reason for that apart from similar sounding words.

Clans & Surnames — Hakka Mauritians 客家

www.hakkamauritians.org

Apparently, many Mauritians of Chinese ancestry use a transliteration of the full Chinese name of a patrilineal ancestor as their given name, with the surname placed first in Chinese style. Thus, the Siao Him Fa family's original name must have been Siao, and a Siao with the given name Him Fa was the one who emigrated to Mauritius.

And one more:

Thank you - this is super interesting! I know some Singaporeans and Malaysians of Chinese origin write their names in that order (Western given name - surname - Chinese given name) and had figured Him Fa would be Adam's Chinese given name, except his brother Benjamin's last name is also Siao Him Fa. Nice way to honor their grandfather!

Here's a France TV Sport piece on Adam from when he was working with Brian Joubert 6 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC7RpMKxOKI

 

[Nmsis]

And the FIRST mention of Adam's skating here on FSU goes, of course , to @Nmsis back on April 11, 2015 (linked video still plays) in the original "News and updates à la Française" thread in GSD

Oye, that's OLD. lol.
And the videos are still available which is quite a feat.

I'm going to add a couple of old videos.
This one dates back to 2016 and shows some of Adam's oldest videos (or even of his sister and brothers) and how his family dealt with him living between Toulouse where he was training with Rodolphe Maréchal (whom he rejoined in Nice in 2022) and Baptiste Porquet, and Bordeaux where his parents are working. It highlights how partial to jumps his training was at the time, with only 13 hours of ice time per week.
That one dates back to 2017 if I'm correct, before his move to Joubert.

 

[Cachoo]

I keep listening to “Agape” and wonder what Adam could do with it. We saw Ilia with Britell’s “Succession” (wonderful!) but I this Britell score from “If Beale Street Could Talk” is something that would require a master of interpretation. Adam. It is beautiful but is it skateable?

 

[Sylvia]

Adam’s first vlog is posted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esZocE2vGFw

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting more comments on the topic of Adam's family name here ):

Another example similar to Adam's case is that there is a French basketball player called Steeve Ho You Fat from French Guiana, “Ho You Fat(何佑發)” is his family name and also his grandfather's full name. I don't know which Han Chinese clan he belongs to but his family name sounded pretty Cantonese to me as a native Cantonese speaker. So I guessed using their grandfather or ancestor’s full name as their family name is some kind of convention among the early Chinese immigrants who migrated and even naturalized in France?

As an Asian person, I am so embarrassed that I did not realize that Adam is actually of Chinese ancestry. I don't know why I thought he was Vietnamese, maybe because he is from France, but seeing that Siao is actually his Chinese surname makes so much sense. This thread has been highly illuminating!

 

[cheremary]

Adam’s first vlog is posted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esZocE2vGFw

Thanks for posting this link! He really went all over Paris - Bercy, Asnieres-sur-Scene, Cergy, Tour Eiffel, Opera...!

The looks on the faces of those skaters when he randomly went to a public session at Bercy and whipped out a backflip! Was surprised he mounted his own blades. And with all the acrobatic practice, I'm guessing we'll see more tricks in his programs soon

 

[Sylvia]

One of Adam's latest Instagram stories shows he is in NYC right now.

Here he is at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers last week with Benoit Richaud and other young skaters: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6OUm5fLwrE/

ETA:

「2ポイントの減点。それならやろう」“禁止技”バックフリップを使用、話題のシャオ・イム・ファに聞いた真意「自己流は絶対にダメ」《独占》（田村明子）

モントリオール世界選手権では、SP19位から総合3位へと驚異的な逆転劇を見せたフランスのアダム・シャオ・イム・ファ。ニューヨークでブノワ・リショーと振付をしていた彼が、NumberWebの独占取材に応じた。

number.bunshun.jp

 

[choreoseq]

Here he is at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers last week with Benoit Richaud and other young skaters: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6OUm5fLwrE/

ETA:

「2ポイントの減点。それならやろう」“禁止技”バックフリップを使用、話題のシャオ・イム・ファに聞いた真意「自己流は絶対にダメ」《独占》（田村明子）

モントリオール世界選手権では、SP19位から総合3位へと驚異的な逆転劇を見せたフランスのアダム・シャオ・イム・ファ。ニューヨークでブノワ・リショーと振付をしていた彼が、NumberWebの独占取材に応じた。

number.bunshun.jp

some bits summarised in english!

https://x.com/adamsiaos/status/1785797153048125868?s=46

 

[choreoseq]

benoit posted some clips of what seems to be a new exhibition program!

@adamsiaos on Instagram: "it’s new choreography time part of the off season! excited to see the new program 🫡🖤 #adamsiaohimfa #figureskating #patinageartistique #teamfrance #figureskater"

6 likes, 0 comments - adamsiaos on May 1, 2024: "it’s new choreography time part of the off season! excited to see the new program 🫡🖤 #adamsiaohimfa #figureskating #patinagearti...".

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

benoit posted some clips of what seems to be a new exhibition program!

Thanks! I assume he will perform it at the Fantasy on Ice shows/tour in Japan:

5/24-5/26 - Chiba (Makuhari)
5/31-6/2 - Aichi
6/14-6/16 - Kobe, Hyogo
6/21-6/23 - Shizuoka

 

[On My Own]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1786555786144944638

Here's this off-season's and maybe the next season's incessant drama.

 

[Sylvia]

Since this is supposed to be a positive fan thread, maybe you can move the above to this GSD thread? https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ussia-and-belarus.109499/page-83#post-6592935
ETA: Thanks.

 

[choreoseq]

anyone able to identify the bit of music before the tango & the piece at the end?

adam siao him fa, tiktok live (may 4th, 2024)

youtu.be