Adam Siao Him Fa's reign as European figure skating champion ends with upset win for Britschgi

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Adam Siao Him Fa's bid to win the European men's figure skating title three years running ended with a bronze medal after Lukas Britschgi produced a stunning upset to take gold on Saturday.

The second surprise champion in two days after Niina Petrokina of Estonia won the women's event, Britschgi had been eighth after the short program. He's the first European men's champion from Switzerland since 1947.

“Thank you for this unforgettable night,” he told the crowd, and apologized for not having prepared a speech. Asked what his next goal would be, he said simply, “Celebrating.”

Despite his troubled short program on Thursday, Britschgi's clean skate on Saturday, with two quadruple jumps, gave him a total of 267.09 points. It proved enough for gold amid a succession of mishaps for other contenders.

Like Petrokina on Friday, France's Siao was skating to the soundtrack of the movie “Dune,” but without the same success. Siao fell on his opening quad toeloop, missing what would have been a high-scoring combination, and was marked down for shaky landings on other jumps.

Nikolaj Memola of Italy had been fifth in the short program but improved to take the silver medal on 262.61, ahead of Siao on 257.99.

Also, Italian ice dancers Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri won their event for the third year in a row.

Skating in their 13th Europeans together, Guignard and Fabbri had the lead from Friday's rhythm dance and delivered an assured free dance with a robot theme to score a total of 212.12 points and stay clear of a close contest for the other medals.

The next target for the Italians is the world championships in Boston in March as they aim to improve on their best result of a silver medal in 2023.

“Some time off and then back again at work,” Fabbri said.

Barely a point separated second from fourth place. France's Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud won their first European medal with silver on 206.76 to beat Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who danced to a Beyoncé medley, on 206.06. Finland's Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis missed the podium by just .33.

The European figure skating championships, which began on Wednesday, have been overshadowed by the deaths of skaters, coaches and their families in a mid-air collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter near Washington, D.C.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain perform during the ice dance free dance competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France perform during the ice dance free dance competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Gold medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy, centre, silver medalists Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France, left, and bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain pose with their medals during the victory ceremony for ice dance free dance competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Gold medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy pose with their medals during the victory ceremony for the ice dance free dance competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy perform during the ice dance free dance competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Nikolaj Memola of Italy performs during the men's free skating program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Adam Siao Him Fa of France performs during the men's free skating program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Gold medalist Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland, centre, silver medalist Nikolaj Memola of Italy, left, and bronze medalist Adam Siao Him Fa of France pose with their medals during the victory ceremony for the men's free skating competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland performs during the men's free skating program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland performs during the men's free skating program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Gold medalist Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland poses with his medal during the victory ceremony for the men's free skating competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Morez Johnson Jr. scored a career-high 29 points, including 17 in the first half, and No. 2 Michigan beat No. 24 Southern California 96-66 on Friday night.

Roddy Gayle Jr. added 12 points for the Wolverines (13-0, 3-0 Big Ten), and Will Tschetter, Trey McKenney and L.J. Cason each scored 10.

Michigan is off to its best start since it won 17 straight games to start the 2018-19 season.

Jaden Brownell scored 16 points and Erza Ausar added 15 for the Trojans (12-2, 1-2), whose only previous loss was by eight points against Washington on Dec. 6. Chad Baker-Mazara, who came into the game averaging 21 points, was hampered by early foul trouble and finished with 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Michigan starting guard Nimari Burnett was helped from the court with 16:25 left after falling during a battle under the basket. He went down to the floor and appeared to be bleeding above his eyebrow and holding his ankle. He sat on the bench the rest of the night.

The Wolverines bolted out to an 11-0 lead thanks to a defense that forced six early turnovers. USC got within five points twice in the first half and Michigan responded with a 32-19 run to build a 49-31 halftime advantage.

USC got no closer the rest of the way.

USC: At No. 9 Michigan State on Monday.

Michigan: Visits Penn State on Tuesday.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Michigan center Aday Mara, front, drives against Southern California center Gabe Dynes, back, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)