“You’re not the only one who has messed up your short program”!” Adam Siao Him Fa about words of his coaches that inspired him and boosted confidence
Translation of the Adam Siao Him Fa’s comments about winning bronze at the 2024 World Championships.
original source: eurosport.fr 27th March 2024 by Anne Boyer
Adam Siao Him Fa talks to Eurosport France about this special moment of winning bronze at the 2024 Worlds, failure in the short program and his comeback in the free. Here’s a translation of his comments
“Q: How are you Adam? How do you recover from such emotional roller coasters?
Adam Siao Him Fa: It’s crazy, I’m still on cloud nine. I’m still having a hard time coming to terms with what happened, it was so incredible, surreal! I’m really very happy, and the return to earth is a bit hard (laughs)!
Q: Especially after such a performance… How did you feel after your unsuccessful short program?
Adam Siao Him Fa: I felt really disappointed, I was very angry with myself. I was mentally hurt, it took me a lot of time to digest, not really the failure, which rather turned into a lesson, but this underperformance. I took the time during the two days between the two programs to refocus and change my mindset for the free program.
Q: After the short program, did your coaches say anything particular to you?
Adam Siao Him Fa: Yes, they helped me a lot. What was good was that we felt the same way on our own, and being able to discuss it together, gather our thoughts, it was much clearer for me, reassuring to see that we were seeing things the same way. Benoit told me: “OK, what happened was tough, it wasn’t good technically, but now you are going to move your butt for the free program because the competition isn’t over! You have to fight and go for this competition against yourself”. And Rodolphe (Maréchal, one of his coaches, ed) advised me to attack my jumps, with a lot of determination, but also to have fun. And this was more or less what I had in mind, so hearing it from my coaches confirmed my feeling.
Q: How did you approach the free program?
Adam Siao Him Fa: There was only one thing on my mind: going on the ice to fight, going for a good performance. I was really determined, as if I was going into the ring for a boxing match, to fight against myself! At that point, there’s no fear, a bit of stress but good stress, which boosted me.
Q: The wait was long after your free program, because you went first. When did you think the medal was possible?
Adam Siao Him Fa: At the end of my program, I knew I was going to climb up the ranks. I had done my job, I had made up for it, I had given everything I could, now it was no longer up to me, but the other skaters and the judges. All that was left was to wait. Honestly, I knew I was going to move up, but I didn’t think I was going to go up that much! After Shoma Uno’s program (who moved from 1st to 4th place, ed.), I was surprised to find myself on the podium!
Q: Did you think of Nathan Chen, who made a great comeback at the Pyeongchang Olympics moving from 17th to 5th place? Was his example helpful in believing in it?
Adam Siao Him Fa: Yes, Cédric Tour, my other coach who stayed in France, spoke to me about this over the phone reminding me of Nathan Chen did at the Olympics, “you’re not the only one who has messed up your short program”! And that helped and inspired me a lot. It boosted me back up.”
Related topics: Adam Siao Him Fa, world championship
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