Savchenko and Massot: "We skated with heart"

[gsk8]

Savchenko and Massot earned a new personal best of 162.86, besting their score from the Olympics last month. The team was awarded numerous 2+ and 3+ grades of execution (GOE) for all elements. Their routine to “La Terre Vue Du Ciel” featured a huge triple twist, throw triple flip and Salchow, side-by-side triple Salchow-double toe-double toe and triple toe jumps, and strong lifts and spins. All elements were graded a level four. The newly-crowned Olympic champions also set a record for the Total Score for Pairs with 245.84 points.

“We decided to skate here for our family, for friends and fans,” said Savchenko regarding the last competition of the season. “It was really hard after Olympics to come back home. We went home for seven hours and then we left for Art on Ice. We had just one week of preparation. But thinking of the family who couldn’t be at Olympics was our motivation to skate here. We gave all our energy and we skated with heart. That’s why it was so emotional.”

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[ladyjane]

They certainly did. What a way to finish the season. Skating like that, showing they can do an excellent SP as well as a breathtaking, mesmerising and inspiring long. There were tears again after this long, and not just on Aljona's and Bruno's faces!

 

[LRK]

Their FP was otherworldly.

 

[iluvtodd]

Just magnificent & transcending! Congrats, Aliona & Bruno!

 

[Interspectator]

Congratulations. We can only and

 

[Anni234]

I cannot even put into words the emotions these two have given me in the Olympics and in Worlds this season. They truly are remarkable and an epitome of great pair skating. :clapper:

 

[MaiKatze]

It's such a great way to end a career, but I'm also selfish and would love to see what they could come up with next. Because it's not like this program was the outlier. The SP is great, last years Lighthouse LP was so good, many people were saying they should keep it, it was Olympic material. I'm glad that this innovation is getting rewarded.

 

[singerskates]

Savchenko and Massot earned a new personal best of 162.86, besting their score from the Olympics last month. The team was awarded numerous 2+ and 3+ grades of execution (GOE) for all elements. Their routine to “La Terre Vue Du Ciel” featured a huge triple twist, throw triple flip and Salchow, side-by-side triple Salchow-double toe-double toe and triple toe jumps, and strong lifts and spins. All elements were graded a level four. The newly-crowned Olympic champions also set a record for the Total Score for Pairs with 245.84 points.

“We decided to skate here for our family, for friends and fans,” said Savchenko regarding the last competition of the season. “It was really hard after Olympics to come back home. We went home for seven hours and then we left for Art on Ice. We had just one week of preparation. But thinking of the family who couldn’t be at Olympics was our motivation to skate here. We gave all our energy and we skated with heart. That’s why it was so emotional.”

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When are they retiring so that other have a chance to be #1?

 

[MaiKatze]

When are they retiring so that other have a chance to be #1?

Huh? They are first time World Champions. They have never won the Europeans and only won the GPF for the first time last year. It's not like they dominated the other pairs for years and finally should retire so that others can win. I'm even pretty sure still that Sui/Han would have won the Olympics/GPF if they hadn't made costly mistakes. And even Tarasova/Morozov had every chance, the judges were more than willing to let them win over S/M if they would have delivered. They won over them at the beginning of this season.

 

[Rachmaninoff]

When are they retiring so that other have a chance to be #1?

Come on. Others "have a chance to be number one" whether they retire or not. No one is permanently unbeatable.

I've heard sentiments like this ever since I started watching figure skating as an eleven-year-old, and I never thought they had any merit. People said it was unfair to let professional skaters compete at the '94 Olympics, and after all that buzz Gordeeva and Grinkov were the only pros that ended up winning gold there. People complained about Michelle Kwan winning everything during her heyday and how boring it was and how she should bow out and give others "a chance," but other skaters still rose to the occasion and beat her at times, including two Olympics, and it wasn't even all that rare. If people knew in 2014 that Virtue and Moir would be going for another Olympics they may have predicted an easy win for them, but it was anything but.

Legends don't have to retire to give others a chance to be on top. It's on those others to rise up and become great enough to challenge those legends. And sometimes they do, and they end up better than they would have been if their strategy was to wait for someone to retire. I'm all for that.

 

[ladyjane]

Huh? They are first time World Champions. They have never won the Europeans and only won the GPF for the first time last year. It's not like they dominated the other pairs for years and finally should retire so that others can win. I'm even pretty sure still that Sui/Han would have won the Olympics/GPF if they hadn't made costly mistakes. And even Tarasova/Morozov had every chance, the judges were more than willing to let them win over S/M if they would have delivered. They won over them at the beginning of this season.

Totally agreed on this one. S/M had the best Free skate at the Olympics, but only could come back so strongly from behind because other skaters made mistakes in theirs (and the distance with nr. 2 for the whole of the competition was only half a point). In this specific competition the situation was different, as their short was well executed as well and they were in first already, so they didn't have to come back from behind and their Free was even better still. They certainly dominated in this competition (though T/M were close in the Short). But Sui/Han are still out there (and hopefully be back healthy), and have won competitive encounters with them before, Tarasova/Morosov dito. Last year at Euros it was T/M who won the title. I would rather state that the couples are pretty close, and it isn't a question of giving someone else a chance at winning after years of domination at all. Having said that, I do think it will be difficult to take over a Free Skate like this one was. Perhaps even for themselves! And T/M weren't helped by that awful programme (I'm sorry, I just can't help disliking it). They could be on top once again with a better programme, and making less mistakes in their free skates. Even with S/M still in the picture. I sincerely hope S/M do stay on for a while, because they have brought such beautiful, lyrical skating to us and might push their innovations even further, but it might also be irresistible to go out on such a high note as this one. While next year things might be different with the other couples also upping the ante, and Bruno and Aljona having had their share of injuries too, which must also be inhibiting to continue.

We'll still be talking about and watching this Free Skate for years to come, that's for sure. It's one of those programmes that won't ever be forgotten, like X/H's Turandot in 2003 Worlds, and both M/D's Rachmaninov and G/G's Beethoven in the 1994 Olympics. They're legendary, and I expect S/M's one to be among them.