| Florent Amodio | |
| Birth Date: | 1990 5, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Sobral, Brazil |
| Hometown: | Paris, France |
| Beganskating: | 1994 |
| Retired: | 28 January 2016 |
| Discipline: | Men's singles |
Florent Amodio (born 12 May 1990) is a French figure skating coach and former competitor. He is the 2011 European champion, a four-time French national champion (2010, 2013-2015), and the 2008 JGP Final champion. He has represented France at two Winter Olympics.
Florent Amodio was born in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil. A French couple adopted him as an infant, along with his sister. He was raised in Fremainville, Val-d'Oise. He holds both French and Brazilian citizenship.
In addition to competing, Amodio has also studied for a coaching diploma. In 2012, he took on a starring role in the movie Programme Libre, in which he portrays a teenaged skater named Gauthier. Amodio intends to study journalism and pursue a career in that field.[1]
In September 2020, Amodio married his girlfriend, Sofia Gassoumi, who also coaches at his rink.
Amodio began skating at the age of four and was coached by Bernard Glesser for more than fifteen years. At the age of 12, he was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease, causing knee pain and edema. It left him unable to skate for 18 months. He returned to competition in 2004 and first represented France internationally in 2005.
After finishing third and first at his 2008–09 JGP events, Amodio won the 2008–2009 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in his fourth and final season on the circuit. He later had a disappointing 15th place showing at Junior Worlds. Amodio was part of the French team that competed at the inaugural World Team Trophy in April 2009, and finished 10th in the men's field.
Amodio turned senior prior to the 2009–10 season, which he began by winning the French Masters. He later made his senior Grand Prix debut at the 2009 Cup of Russia, where he placed 9th, and came in 4th at the 2009 Skate America, missing out on a medal by less than a point. Amodio won the French national title in December 2009 and was selected for the Olympic and World team. He finished 12th at the Vancouver Olympics and was 15th at his first senior Worlds.
In May 2010 Amodio made a coaching change, leaving Bernard Glesser, who had trained him since childhood, to work with Nikolai Morozov in Russia and Latvia. When in France, he trained with Annick Dumont in Champigny-sur-Marne.
Amodio won the bronze medal at the 2010 NHK Trophy – his first senior Grand Prix medal. At the 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard, he won the silver medal with a career-best score. Based on these results, Amodio's was the sixth and final qualifier for the Grand Prix Final. He finished in sixth place in the short program and fifth in the free skate to place sixth overall at the Final. At the 2011 French Nationals he had a disappointing short program but moved up to win silver behind Brian Joubert after a strong showing in the free skate.
Amodio had a strong short program at the 2011 European Championships and placed first in this part of the competition. He was third in the free program and finished with a combined total of 226.86 points, 3.85 ahead of Joubert, to win gold in his European debut. It was the first time since 1961 that the French took the top two spots in the European men's event.