KAUNAS: France’s Adam Siao Him Fa successfully defended his European figure skating title on Friday despite a fall and pulling off a banned backflip. Leading from the short program, the 22-year-old totalled 276.17 points after his free skate.

Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko, with 256.99 points, took silver with Matteo Rizzo of Italy claiming bronze on 250.87 points. Bordeaux-born Siao Him Fa is the first man to retain the European title since Javier Fernandez won his seventh consecutive gold in 2019.

Siao Him Fa’s free program on Friday, performed to the music of German-born British composer Max Richter, featured four quadruple jumps compared to three last year. He even attempted an audacious backflip at the end of the program despite the jump being outlawed by the sport’s federation.

“You help all of us push ourselves to our limit. I did this backflip for you, and it’s a little French touch,” the French skater told the crowd after incurring a two-point penalty. His title triumph on Friday capped his steady progress over the past two seasons. After finishing 14th at the 2022 Winter Olympics, last year he became European champion for the first time. This season, he has secured two Grand Prix victories. Italian ice dancers Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri got their title defence off the mark by leading the rhythmic dance section.

Decked out in pink and turquoise sequined costumes, the reigning champions scored highest, performing to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and Phil Collins’ ‘Against All Odds’. They scored 86.80 points to edge British pair Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, silver medallists last year, who were 1.60 points behind.

The rivalry has been tight between both couples this season with the British beating the Italians at the NHK Trophy and the Italians ahead at the ISU Grand Prix Final. Lithuanian duo Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius are in third position (80.73) to the delight of home fans. – AFP