She was a Junior World Champion with Stanislav Morozov. He, I believe, is German. Unfortunately, they probably won't be at the Olympics since she is not yet a German citizen.Originally Posted by Mathman
She was a Junior World Champion with Stanislav Morozov. He, I believe, is German. Unfortunately, they probably won't be at the Olympics since she is not yet a German citizen.
Aliona Savchenko is from Ukraine. She skated for Ukraine, with Morozov as her partner at the 2002 Olympics. They also skated in the 2001 GPF. They were a reasonably good pair with potentially a good future, although they did not skate that well in the 2002 Olympics, and at the 2001 GPF they had a major problem on a lift (not a fall). I don't know why they split. Robin Szolkowy was the 2001 German pairs champion with Claudia Rauschenbach(the name rings a bell but I am not sure where I heard that name). I don't know why they split either.
I heard of Savchenko & Szolkowy skating as a pair for Germany last year, so I assume that she emigrated to Germany, probably for better skating opportunities or may be better partner(?). I had not heard of Szolkowy prior to last year. I heard many positive things about them last year but I did not see them on TV because they had not won anything. Now we will get to see them so that I can draw my own conclusions.
That said, I am one of the few that really like Petrova-Tikhonov. I like their classical precision and maturity. What I really appreciate about them is they always work toward higher level of difficulty, this late in their skating career. They learned to do sbs 3salchow, throw triple loop after the 2002 Olympics. Since last year they have improved their speed and they were looking really good. I find it inspiring that an older pair works hard to improve and be competitive with the younger pairs.I am disappointed that they did not win. I will have to wait for a week, when our networks finally show Skate Canada.
Vash
Last edited by Vash01; 10-29-2005 at 02:19 AM.
According to the TSN commentators, after Savchenko and Morozov split, she did an internet partner search, Ingo Steuer answered and matched her with Szolkowy, and the rest is history.
I only came to know about S and S last season, and I believe during one of the World's broadcasts they showed either their short or long program. I am vague on the details but I do remember seeing Fecteau and Wakamatsu (sp???) and S and S for the first time and being like: Wow I love both of those teams, Dang neither will be at the Olympics regardless of how well they skate.
Claudia Rauschenbach is Annet Poetzsch's daughter.
Wow! Annet P. is that old? She was the 1980 OGM, so - yes, she could have a daughter old enough to be skating in the seniors.
Thanks
Claudia is also Witt's niece. She uses her stepfather's last name. That's some pedigree. I haven't seen her skate, but I'd love too.
The pairs competition left me with only two deep impressions. I liked S &S's short. I thought they sold it well, but were too scared to get too emotionally involved with their long.
Plus, someone should tell Petrova gently but firmly to never wear that costume again. She's just too petite for the V. It made her look as broad as a barn. I wonder if that cost them points. I know it's superficial, but the look counts too.
Wasn't there another famous Rauschenbach.....Mandy Woetzel's early partner, Axel Rauschenbach??? Is Axel R. Caludia's dad?
Me, too, Vash, I like P&T. He cracks me up, actually, working so derned hard, being, what, a good 10 years older than the other pairs? Now, if you want a pair to leave you totally cold, it would be the current world champions.
Linny
According to a biography that I've read, he's her stepfather. Axel Witt is her father.
After finally seeing the FS on TV, I think S&S benefited from the CoP a lot. I am no fan of Pet & Tik, and it is indeed nice to see some new blood out there; with time, I'm sure they can rise to great levels.
However, I think CoP did not fully reflect the level at which P&T skated "as one" over S&S. Indeed, P&T has higher components than S&S, and lost on elements. There, however, I think the Russians weren't rewarded enough for their greater unity. Finally, in the rules on component scoring for pairs, things such as "unison" are included in almost each of the components; I would rather see unison being a 6th component.
I disagree. I think that Totmianina/Marinin skate as one, but not Petrova/Tikhonov as much. She is amazing, but he is a bit lumbering, although improving in the last year, since his posture and his stamina go hand-in-hand. In some ways Borzenkova and 6'6" Chivuyaev move more as one, and the newish pair Sheshtakova/Lebedev are remarkably in synch. Savchenko and Skolkowy are very well suited, mainly because he has good posture, and I think they are quite simpatico.
From the above comments, I would imagine they were not shown on TV during Moscow Worlds. Drats with those TV people. That is where I saw them and was quite impressed. They had a lot of rapport with each other in Moscow which I thought was somewhat lacking in Canada. They also had a few minor flubs at SC which I thought was enough to give the gold to P&T. I am still impressed with S&S and look forward to more competitions from them.
However, Canada is producing some very potentially winning Pair teams, and I think next year given all the retirements that are expected, Canada will be a force in Pairs.
Joe
Last edited by Joesitz; 11-09-2005 at 06:45 PM.
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