By Chang-Ran Kim
BEIJING (Reuters) – Figure skating may not hold a candle to Star Wars when it comes to viewership, but it found a new hope for fandom after a little-known Frenchman worked the iconic science-fiction franchise into his programme at the Beijing Olympics.
Donning a Jedi-themed outfit at the men’s competition on Tuesday, Adam Siao Him Fa opened his short programme to the sound of Darth Vader’s breathing, his score arranged with the Imperial March and other snippets of Star Wars music.
Sprinkling duelling scenes in between, Siao Him Fa concluded with a raised hand to the sound of an extending lightsaber.
“It feels good that even people who are not figure skating fans liked the programme because they love Star Wars,” the 21-year-old told Reuters on Wednesday after a practice session.
Star Wars die-hards took to social media to celebrate.
“Rock on, French Star Wars figure skating guy. Hell yeah,” tweeted Michael Baumann, a staff writer at sports and pop culture website The Ringer who has nearly 19,000 followers.
It was a mission accomplished for Siao Him Fa, himself a fan – his favourite is the 1977 original, ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’ – who said it was a no-brainer when his choreographer suggested the selection.
“That was the idea – to make a short programme that can be loved by people who watch figure skating and also people who don’t,” he said.
“It feels good, and I was happy with my performance.”
Star Wars also featured in Chinese pair dancers Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang’s performance at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018.
The Bordeaux-born Siao Him Fa finished 14th to qualify for the final free skate on Thursday.
When asked whether he had a favourite Star Wars TV series, he said: “I haven’t watched them yet. I just got Disney Plus so I’m going to watch it when I get back to France.”
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
