2024 Grand Prix de France | Men
Adam Siao Him Fa of France rebounded after the short program to win the Men’s title at 2024 Grand Prix de France on Saturday in Angers. Koshiro Shimada of Japan rose three spots to win the silver, while USA’s Andrew Torgashev pocketed the bronze.
Adam Siao Him Fa
Siao Him Fa of France opened his short to “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “X Gon’ Give it to Ya” with a solid quad Lutz-triple toe, but then fell on a quad toe and triple Axel. The 2024 World bronze medalist also lost points on his change foot sit spin which was deemed invalid. He placed eighth with 74.90 points.
“It was definitely not the performance I wanted to show, but I will stay optimistic, I know I can come back,” said the 23-year-old.
The skater added that he wanted to present “multiple short programs” during this season.
“I want to bring something else to the sport,” Siao Him Fa explained. “At some point, it’s kind of boring to do the same program all season long. I plan on switching programs all over the season. I lost a lot of training time because of my injury, but I don’t blame my injury for today’s performance.”
The two-time European champion gave a strong performance in the free skate with music from Dune that featured a quad Lutz. He popped the quad toe to a double but went on to land another quad toe and five triple jumps, including two triple Axels. Two of his spins were awarded a level four while the footwork garnered a level three. He finished first in the free skate with 171.68 points, and with a total score of 246.58, easily catapulted seven spots to the top of the podium with nearly 13 points to spare.
“I am pretty happy about today,” said Siao Him Fa. “Worlds was a lesson and I used it today. I felt much less pressure today and I felt better. I went through this program thinking that this is practice.”
“Analyzing yesterday’s performance, I realized I put far too much pressure on myself,” he added. “I felt good during my program despite there being some mistakes. I kind of forgot of that I was in a competition. I felt more in the practice mind-set; that is good for me during the competition.”
The skater said his ankle is doing “great” and that he is no longer in pain.
He will compete next at Cup of China.
Koshiro Shimada
Koshiro Shimada of Japan placed fifth in the short program with 80.42 points. The three-time Challenger Series medalist landed a quad toe and triple Axel but fell on a triple Lutz-triple toe in his routine to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
“I felt much more calm compared to Skate America,” said Shimada. “Unfortunately, I had a little slip again just as at Skate America. Stèphane (Lambiel) told me this morning that the combo height and length is important. The height was missing a bit today.”
“I was very surprised to see that the arena is so full,” added the 23-year-old. “I think more full than last year. My objective in this program is that the audience ‘cannot take their eyes of me.’ So, I was very happy about the loud cheers after my performance. Stèphane told me ahead of the program that the theme for today was ‘infinite beauty,’ and when I came off the ice, he told me ‘good job!'”
The 2022-23 Japanese national silver medalist struggled with the landing of many of his jumps, putting a foot down, but managed a clean quad toe and triple Lutz. All spins were graded a level four, however, and he scored 153.42 points for third place for his routine to Danse Macabre. With 233.84 points in total, he rose three places to the second spot on the podium.
“I still can’t believe that I am here in the medals,” said Shimada. “I worked with Stèphane for such a long time, and I appreciate his support so much. I want to thank him dearly for all of our hard work together. Last night he told me ‘you’re the best’ and put me in a really positive mindset.”
This helped as the skater said he felt calm ahead of the free skate.
“It was even better than ahead of nationals in 2023,” reflected Shimada. “I really enjoyed skating today. My next step will be nationals, but first of all, I want to digest this amazing feeling and use that in my training to improve.”
Lambiel reiterated that he firmly believes that hard work pays off.
“Today is the definition of this becoming true,” said the coach. “For me, this medal has the same meaning than a win of the world championships because he trains like a world champion. Today, I was very impressed by Koshiro’s self-control; that was very beautiful to see. He could show a strong side of himself today. I know that he is capable of this kind of performance or even better.”
Koshiro, who placed sixth at 2024 Skate America, now has 18 points total in the Grand Prix standings.
Andrew Torgashev
USA’s Andrew Torgashev took a fluke fall after landing a quad toe and triple Axel but recovered to land a triple flip-triple toe in his short program to “L’Enfer” by Stromae. He placed fourth with 81.54 points.
“Today was pretty good, I’ll take it,” said the 23-year-old. “That fall during the choreo, I have no idea what happened. I changed the choreo a bit last Friday. I was trying to perform and then I just found myself on the ice. But I didn’t let it affect me too much. I trained so, so hard since Oberstdorf; I did about 30 of these short programs! Also, I am all healthy and no injuries right now. I am very thankful to my gym trainer. I am putting all the work in for my big goal, the Olympic Games in Milan.”
The 2023 U.S. national bronze medalist paid homage to the ‘greats of figure skating’ with his free skate to Scheherazade. He landed a quad toe, triple flip and triple loop, but then turned out the first triple Axel and landed the second one on the quarter. The front end of a triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow received an edge call, and he lost points on the flying sit spin which was deemed invalid. The skater scored 152.10 points for fourth place in the free skate and placed third overall with 233.64 points for his first Grand Prix medal.
“I feel very good about today,” said Torgashev. “The whole day was of course a bit nerve-wracking, but when I finished the skate, I thought, ‘yes, I did it!”
Torgashev had asked Brandon Frazier, his friend who works at the same rink, to join him for moral and mental support.
“The best advice he probably gave me was to concentrate on what I feel and think myself,” said Torgashev of the 2022 Olympian. “I am very pleased with my skate today. It’s a bit tough to miss out by 0.2 on a better placement, but I concentrate on my own inner feeling. I think I can build on this competition to do even better in the future.”
This was a solo Grand Prix event for the skater.
Mikhail Shaidorov
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan had the most technically difficult planned program for the short program. However, he fell on a quad Lutz attempt and had a few small mistakes in two of his spins. Still, he landed a solid triple Axel and quad toe-triple for a sixth-place finish (79.89).
“It was not my best performance,” noted the 20-year-old. “I wanted to do better, but tomorrow I will do better! I don’t know what happened with the Lutz; usually it’s a secure jump for me.”
The five-time national champion will go for the triple Axel-quad toe combination in the free skate as the second jumping element. He first landed this combination in 2021 and got inspired to try it after he saw Shoma Uno landing it in practice.
Skating to “Moonlight Sonata” and “Take on Me,” the 2023 Cup of China bronze medalist opened with a quad Lutz, but it was landed on the quarter. However, he followed up on his promise and made history after landing the first triple Axel-quad toe combination. This alone, has a base value of 17.50. The quad flip received an edge call and was also landed on the quarter, but he went on to land three more clean triple jumps. He placed fifth in the free skate and fourth overall (151.97/231.86).
“I am so happy I have landed the triple Axel-quad toe combo!” said Shaidorov. “It is an amazing feeling to have made this history. Right away, after my program, I did this (fist pump) reaction, because I did it and reached my goal. Now I want to work on my program and improve my component marks. I also have another crazy combination in mind that I want to do next, but I will keep it a secret for now.”
He will compete next at Cup of China.
Kazuki Tomono
Japan’s Kazuki Tomono stepped out of his opening quad toe but landed a quad Salchow-double toe and triple Axel in his routine to music by Tshegue. The 2022 Four Continents silver medalist, who injured his hip three weeks ago, scored 83.45 for third place.
“I think I did well,” he said. “I almost didn’t train the spins and steps during the last weeks, so I lost some points on spins and steps.”
“I feel like I have nothing to lose for tomorrow,” the 26-year-old added. “I was very relaxed, maybe the most I was in my whole life. I am a bit surprised I landed the quad Salchow in combination and the Axel because I didn’t feel strong in my legs. It was the first time I felt good today since the injury. The Axel today was the first time in a long time I felt happy with it.”
The four-time Grand Prix medalist fell on both the quad toe and quad Salchow in his free skate, but landed five triple jumps, including two triple Axels. His footwork and two spins earned a level four, and he posted a score of 148.03 for sixth place. With a total of 231.48 points, he slipped to fifth place overall.
“To be honest, the result today was kind of expected for me because of the injury,” said Tomono, who was thrilled for his teammate Koshiro. “I really couldn’t practice my step sequence recently. I was still pleased how I could perform it today.”
He competes next at Finlandia Trophy.
Nikolaj Memola
Nikolaj Memola of Italy, who is coming back from an ankle fracture, stood in 10th in the short (68.71). However, the national champion rebounded with a near-solid free skate to “Mon Dieu.”
His routine featured quad Lutz eight triple jumps, including two triple Axels. The only errors were an edge call on the quad Lutz and both triple Lutz jumps. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level three, and the two-time Challenger Series bronze medalist scored 158.91 for second place in the free skate. With a total score of 227.62, he rose to sixth place overall.
“Today I did my job, yesterday I didn’t,” the 20-year-old pointed out. “I can say today I am happy, but I am not satisfied. But I am glad I can compete right now.”
The skater explained that he tore two ligaments in June and also broke the talus bone in his ankle.
“It was actually a miracle that it healed so fast,” said Memola. “I started jumping again at the beginning of September. Then I got bitten by an insect in China and got really sick because of that. Everything was a mess lately and I couldn’t train the way I wanted. I can’t wait to get it all together.”
He will compete next at Cup of China.
Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia placed seventh overall (226.11), followed by China’s Boyang Jin (219.05) and Switzerland’s Lukas Britschgi (212.94).
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