no. it's just my opinion. You have different opinion? Okay. Time will tell who's right.
Savchenko and Massot team up
- Thread starter Snow63
- Start date
no. it's just my opinion. You have different opinion? Okay. Time will tell who's right.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2014
Anybody else thinking of the movie "The Cutting Edge" or is just me?
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
I think it is beyond just 'likely' that she is never going to have an OGM. Her age is working against it, her new partner is working against it, everything is working against it. Her best chance was honestly 2010.
Will I ever say NEVER? no. But I'd put her chances at lower than 1% at the moment.
I always had the impression that Savchenko as well as Steuer never appreciated Robin quite as much as they should have. True, Robin sometimes did make a mistake with the single jumps (Aliona did that, too, incidentally, it´s just that Robin never made such a fuss if she did). But Robin has been such an absolutely reliable partner for Aliona that a lot of her success and self confidence is due to him, albeit she does not seem to give him much credit for it. This reliability of his was most of the time invisible, you just would have noticed the lack of it. Had Robin ever dropped Aliona as Smirnov once dropped Yuko or like Morgan Cipres dropped Vanessa at Worlds, I am sure Aliona would have killed Robin on the spot. She always seems to have taken it for granted, though, that he did no such thing.
And this talk of teaming up with whoever comes first and literally expecting to win a OGM with a basically random guy AGAIN shows a shocking lack of respect towards Robin - as if Aliona would always be a sure bet for the OGM, and it was just stupid Robin who happened to make some stupid blunders. At first sight, it might indeed seem so as Robin made mistakes with his single jumps in Vancouver as well as in Sochi. But 1) it was with him also that Aliona became 5-times-world champion - which now seems to count as nothing and 2) she as well as Steuer seem to forget that you win as a team and lose as a team. I, for one, think it probable that Robin at the Olympics in fact crumbled under the pressure - but I suspect that the worst pressure for Robin was not the one by the public (there was actually not that much in Germany, comparatively speaking, because figure skating simply is not as important there as, say, ski jumping or biathlon, let alone soccer...), but the pressure by his partner and his coach. Had they seriously appreciated Robin, his personality and his gifts, had they taken the trouble to find out what he needs to succeed and stopped that damned "only gold matters"-talk, they might actually have gone clean in Vancouver and/or in Sochi. (True that this would, in Sochi at least, still not have given them gold (imo), and this is another reason why I find it very unfair that Aliona seems to blame Robin for the fact that they did not win gold in Sochi. Robin could have landed a quad, and it would have made no difference whatsover regarding the OGM. If a flawed Sotnikova could win over a clean Kim, it is pretty clear that a clean S/S did not ever have the smallest chance to beat a clean V/T.)
So, if Robin was pissed after Worlds, I have no hard time imagining that he had very good reasons for that.
Obviously, Aliona is bent on learning to appreciate Robin the hard way. I do hope it won´t be even harder than she deserves. But it is unfortunately very probable that it will.
Win a OGM in 2018?
She will be lucky if she ever wins another medal at Europeans....
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2013
I was chatting with a skating fan friend about this and we both agree on this: Aliona has a heck of a lot more motivation than she does common sense.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2007
Agree. Plus, I have a feeling that many skaters are not willing to be bossed around by Aliona and Ingo, who both appear to have very strong personalities. Not everyone is as chill as Robin--it's a matter of personality fit in addition to talent.
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2008
Since Popova and Massot trained with Steuer in Chemnitz when they could afford it, I imagine Massot has a good idea of what it would be like to work with Savchenko and Steuer, and they should have a pretty good idea of whether he'd be a good fit.
I find some of the speculation in this thread about Savchenko, her character and her motives pretty disgusting. Interesting how people have some a hard time with female skaters who are ambitious, assertive, opinionated, or all three.
Savchenko did not break up an existing pair; Massot did, because he felt like it would be the best decision for his career. Skaters are allowed to leave partnerships, as Maxim Trankov did four years ago. Maybe things won't work out for Savchenko/Massot, maybe they will. But neither of them has done anything wrong here.
I find some of the speculation in this thread about Savchenko, her character and her motives pretty disgusting. Interesting how people have some a hard time with female skaters who are ambitious, assertive, opinionated, or all three.
Well, if you read it somewhere then it must be true, and your interpretation as wellI just read on a German news page that if it doesn't work with Massot she still has some offers from Russian skaters.
So obviously she doesn't really care whom she starts with.
She'll just pick out the best and hope for the best.
Savchenko did not break up an existing pair; Massot did, because he felt like it would be the best decision for his career. Skaters are allowed to leave partnerships, as Maxim Trankov did four years ago. Maybe things won't work out for Savchenko/Massot, maybe they will. But neither of them has done anything wrong here.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
I think they should at least be able to challenge for GP's in 2016
I feel though that it'll take time for Massot to catch up to Aliona in skating skills and the like which will keep their PCS down even if they're landing 3A's and 4F's
I feel though that it'll take time for Massot to catch up to Aliona in skating skills and the like which will keep their PCS down even if they're landing 3A's and 4F's
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2012
They tell us nothing new in this short clip that was shown on TV today....honestly, could they be any more vague? Are they blaming each other or not? What exactly is the problem here? I don't get it. 
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
They tell us nothing new in this short clip that was shown on TV today....honestly, could they be any more vague? Are they blaming each other or not? What exactly is the problem here? I don't get it.
What are they saying?
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2009
^^
Ingo: Unfortunately, recently, people from the outside have tried to force their way into the team. And that resulted in discussing our internal problems over the media and making things public. But we know how to deal with that. That just the way it is. That's life.
Aliona: It's sad that it looks like it does from the outside, and that certain people try to ruin things completely. That's sad for me because I like Robin, have grown fond of him, and now, one wants to break us apart in such a way that we may end up not even on speaking terms anymore, that's bitter.
Robin: Everyday, something happens, where somebody feels someone else stepped on his toes, or feels misunderstood. But that's par of the course in a team sport, everybody was aware of that from the get go and made that decision, we are all old enough... so there's no need to air any dirty laundry now.
Ingo: Unfortunately, recently, people from the outside have tried to force their way into the team. And that resulted in discussing our internal problems over the media and making things public. But we know how to deal with that. That just the way it is. That's life.
Aliona: It's sad that it looks like it does from the outside, and that certain people try to ruin things completely. That's sad for me because I like Robin, have grown fond of him, and now, one wants to break us apart in such a way that we may end up not even on speaking terms anymore, that's bitter.
Robin: Everyday, something happens, where somebody feels someone else stepped on his toes, or feels misunderstood. But that's par of the course in a team sport, everybody was aware of that from the get go and made that decision, we are all old enough... so there's no need to air any dirty laundry now.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
Thanks. 
I suppose they're referring to Robin's fiancé? So, is Aliona saying that she and Robin don't even speak to each other?
Good answer/non answer. He didn't say much but he's confirming there are some dirty laundry. I suppose that's normal for a couple who lasted so long though, and we know the ending was not in good terms.
I suppose they're referring to Robin's fiancé? So, is Aliona saying that she and Robin don't even speak to each other?
Good answer/non answer. He didn't say much but he's confirming there are some dirty laundry. I suppose that's normal for a couple who lasted so long though, and we know the ending was not in good terms.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2009
Thanks.
I suppose they're referring to Robin's fiancé? So, is Aliona saying that she and Robin don't even speak to each other?
My subpar ambigious translation, sorry.
They are on speaking terms, but the alleged someone would rather have they were not.(I'll edit that)
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
My subpar ambigious translation, sorry.
No, don't worry it's me.
it's quite clear that she was saying someone else is trying.
I just wasn't sure if she was saying that to tell us that they're not speaking with each other indeed.
Question: Remember when Robin mentioned sometime in 2012 that they lined up a major new sponsor and no longer had to worry about paying for all their training and associated costs?
What about now? Where are they getting the funding to fund Aljona's continuing career? Is the French federation hoping for a competitive team for 2018 and Aljona's disappointment at placing 3rd again a catalyst? I wonder if the French are holding the purse strings and would have much deeper pockets. Because Aljona and Robin struggled financially for years in Germany.
What about now? Where are they getting the funding to fund Aljona's continuing career? Is the French federation hoping for a competitive team for 2018 and Aljona's disappointment at placing 3rd again a catalyst? I wonder if the French are holding the purse strings and would have much deeper pockets. Because Aljona and Robin struggled financially for years in Germany.
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
Aliona Savchenko: „If you don’t take the risk, you will never win”
The Olympic season has ended – yet, some topics are still being heatedly discussed by the figure skating fans all around the world. Take, for example, Aliona Savchenko’s decision to continue her competitive career alongside a new partner, the French Bruno Massot. Given the huge amount of interest in the recently formed pair, we asked Aliona and Ingo Steuer, her longtime coach, to talk about their plans and this new partnership. The Olympics haven’t turned out as they wished – a second bronze, when all they wanted was the gold – but one can easily sense their ambition and determination. Four years prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Aliona says it loud and clear: „We are both ready for this and we are hungry to start working”. Here it is, the skater-coach’ perspective on the past season and, above all, on the future.
Looking at this season’s results, you and Robin were first in every competition you entered (Cup of Russia, Cup of China, Grand Prix Final, Worlds), except for the Olympics, when you won the second bronze of your career… Watching the pictures taken on the podium in Sochi, with you crying, I’m assuming it was hard to cope with the result. How would you describe this third Olympic experience?
Aliona: We did all we could do for the last four years, but it was not enough to win against the strong Russians Tatiana and Maxim. We did too many mistakes to think about getting the gold. Of course, there was a chance to win, but only with two clean programs and the throw triple Axel. At the end, we were unhappy, but happy we got the bronze…
One might say your Olympic season was just like a rollercoaster for you and the fans, giving your continuous attempts to land the throw triple Axel. Why have you decided to include it in your programs in the first place? Wasn’t it risky to keep trying it?
Aliona: If you don’t take the risk, you will never win! We knew from the beginning that we need something special to have a chance to win – that’s why we decided to take the risk with the triple Axel. We are not the kind of skaters to wait for others’ mistakes; we can win by ourselves!
That piece of news, with you deciding to continue your competitive career was very well received by your admirers. But when have you first thought about staying competitive? It was a decision taken after the disappointment at the Olympics – or it was something you had in mind for some time now?
Aliona: I started to think about continuing to skate at the Grand Prix in China; and, during this time, Eric Radford asked me: “What will you do after the Olympics? Will you keep skating?”. After this question, I thought even more – and got the answer: I will continue; I’m still too young to stop skating in competition, but I’ll continue maybe with a different partner.
Having won almost everything with Robin Szolkowy – 5 World gold medals, 4 European crowns, 2 Olympic medals etc. – why this decision to keep on going? For your fans is a wonderful piece of news, but there has to be a strong reason for staying competitive, given the fact that it would be difficult to return in the arena with a brand new partner…
Aliona: I’m still young and in good shape and I will try something new, because I feel this is not the end. Also I asked Robin what he would do after this season and he only told me that he would stop skating with me. That’s why I made this decision to continue with someone else and told my coach to find the right partner for me after this season.
From what I know, you have to sit out for an amount of time before returning to international competitions with Bruno Massot… How do you plan using this time?
Aliona: First, I will train with Bruno and see if it’s possible or not… Of course, we have to wait minimum one year to compete in international events, but we will need that time! I hope we’ll get the chance to skate in some shows to prepare for the future.
How do you and Ingo look at the months in front of you? Starting from scratch with a different partner requires a lot of work… Are you ready for this?
Aliona: Yes, we are both ready for this and we are hungry to start working.
Ingo: First of all, Aliona and Robin will finish their career in the show “Imagine on Ice”, on 26th of April, in Chemnitz, a show which is already sold out. After that, I’ll start training the new team of Aliona and Bruno; first in Chemnitz and later we will go to Coral Springs, Florida, and start working together with Silvia Fontana and John Zimmerman, as we did in the last couple of years.
Ingo, what kind of work needs to be done in order to turn Aliona and Bruno into a competitive pair?
Ingo: I know Aliona and I know Bruno and I know exactly what I have to do in order to turn them into a good, strong team! Of course, it will be a lot of work, but my intuition says we will have a lot of fun and it definitely won’t be boring.
France or Germany, when it comes to representing it? Have you made up your mind?
Ingo: We haven’t decided yet. We also need to wait for the decisions of the German and French federations, to know what plans they have and also what is best for us.
http://www.insideskating.net/2014/0...-if-you-dont-take-the-risk-you-will-never-win
The Olympic season has ended – yet, some topics are still being heatedly discussed by the figure skating fans all around the world. Take, for example, Aliona Savchenko’s decision to continue her competitive career alongside a new partner, the French Bruno Massot. Given the huge amount of interest in the recently formed pair, we asked Aliona and Ingo Steuer, her longtime coach, to talk about their plans and this new partnership. The Olympics haven’t turned out as they wished – a second bronze, when all they wanted was the gold – but one can easily sense their ambition and determination. Four years prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Aliona says it loud and clear: „We are both ready for this and we are hungry to start working”. Here it is, the skater-coach’ perspective on the past season and, above all, on the future.
Looking at this season’s results, you and Robin were first in every competition you entered (Cup of Russia, Cup of China, Grand Prix Final, Worlds), except for the Olympics, when you won the second bronze of your career… Watching the pictures taken on the podium in Sochi, with you crying, I’m assuming it was hard to cope with the result. How would you describe this third Olympic experience?
Aliona: We did all we could do for the last four years, but it was not enough to win against the strong Russians Tatiana and Maxim. We did too many mistakes to think about getting the gold. Of course, there was a chance to win, but only with two clean programs and the throw triple Axel. At the end, we were unhappy, but happy we got the bronze…
One might say your Olympic season was just like a rollercoaster for you and the fans, giving your continuous attempts to land the throw triple Axel. Why have you decided to include it in your programs in the first place? Wasn’t it risky to keep trying it?
Aliona: If you don’t take the risk, you will never win! We knew from the beginning that we need something special to have a chance to win – that’s why we decided to take the risk with the triple Axel. We are not the kind of skaters to wait for others’ mistakes; we can win by ourselves!
That piece of news, with you deciding to continue your competitive career was very well received by your admirers. But when have you first thought about staying competitive? It was a decision taken after the disappointment at the Olympics – or it was something you had in mind for some time now?
Aliona: I started to think about continuing to skate at the Grand Prix in China; and, during this time, Eric Radford asked me: “What will you do after the Olympics? Will you keep skating?”. After this question, I thought even more – and got the answer: I will continue; I’m still too young to stop skating in competition, but I’ll continue maybe with a different partner.
Having won almost everything with Robin Szolkowy – 5 World gold medals, 4 European crowns, 2 Olympic medals etc. – why this decision to keep on going? For your fans is a wonderful piece of news, but there has to be a strong reason for staying competitive, given the fact that it would be difficult to return in the arena with a brand new partner…
Aliona: I’m still young and in good shape and I will try something new, because I feel this is not the end. Also I asked Robin what he would do after this season and he only told me that he would stop skating with me. That’s why I made this decision to continue with someone else and told my coach to find the right partner for me after this season.
From what I know, you have to sit out for an amount of time before returning to international competitions with Bruno Massot… How do you plan using this time?
Aliona: First, I will train with Bruno and see if it’s possible or not… Of course, we have to wait minimum one year to compete in international events, but we will need that time! I hope we’ll get the chance to skate in some shows to prepare for the future.
How do you and Ingo look at the months in front of you? Starting from scratch with a different partner requires a lot of work… Are you ready for this?
Aliona: Yes, we are both ready for this and we are hungry to start working.
Ingo: First of all, Aliona and Robin will finish their career in the show “Imagine on Ice”, on 26th of April, in Chemnitz, a show which is already sold out. After that, I’ll start training the new team of Aliona and Bruno; first in Chemnitz and later we will go to Coral Springs, Florida, and start working together with Silvia Fontana and John Zimmerman, as we did in the last couple of years.
Ingo, what kind of work needs to be done in order to turn Aliona and Bruno into a competitive pair?
Ingo: I know Aliona and I know Bruno and I know exactly what I have to do in order to turn them into a good, strong team! Of course, it will be a lot of work, but my intuition says we will have a lot of fun and it definitely won’t be boring.
France or Germany, when it comes to representing it? Have you made up your mind?
Ingo: We haven’t decided yet. We also need to wait for the decisions of the German and French federations, to know what plans they have and also what is best for us.
http://www.insideskating.net/2014/0...-if-you-dont-take-the-risk-you-will-never-win
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2009
thanks 
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
ooh!
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2012
Don't bother. Skater Boy is a known "Ssquared" Anti who now pretends to be concerned about Robin.
I just prefer V and T; MaiKatzke can be seen as a lurker. At least I am open minded unlike a lot of posters who just have one thought about a skater. i have admitted they have done some interesting programs and are good technicians. People should be allowed to have opinons and not be bullied which is really what you are doing but I digress. I may not be good with words but I just think Aliona has achieved so much she should be grateful and it is really sad that Robin who has spent a large part of his life of skating can't really take advantage of the shows and that because Aliona wants OGM. A lot of people want thigns but it doesn' mean they will get it or in some cases shouldl even go for it. Sometimes sadly them going for it can cost them and others greatly. Not just financially. Popov has no partner now. There is a lot at stake But imho and it is just that mai Katke. Sure Aliona doesn't have any obligation to give up her fame or whatever but the skating gods and karma also don't owe her a thing either
And why should Alona get her dream? So many others didn't.Thanks, Alba, for the interview!
I wish Aliona luck with her new partner, and all the best in finally grabbing the elusive Olympic gold! I prefer V&T as a whole, but S&S definitely brought something special. It's unfortunate that such a strong team never got beyond bronze at the Olympics.
I don't get what all the negativity is about. If Aliona feels she's young and healthy enough to continue, then it's her choice. Even if she doesn't succeed, she's already given many years of wonderful performances. Anything else is just a bonus.
I wish Aliona luck with her new partner, and all the best in finally grabbing the elusive Olympic gold! I prefer V&T as a whole, but S&S definitely brought something special. It's unfortunate that such a strong team never got beyond bronze at the Olympics.
I don't get what all the negativity is about. If Aliona feels she's young and healthy enough to continue, then it's her choice. Even if she doesn't succeed, she's already given many years of wonderful performances. Anything else is just a bonus.
Similar threads
- Sticky
