In Milan, at the World Figure Skating Championships, sports couples performed free programs. The final victory was won by representatives of Germany Alena Savchenko and Bruno Massot, Russians Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov - 2nd.

Alyona Savchenko / Bruno Massot (Germany) coped with 100% free program at the World Championships. Level 4 triple twist, triple flip throw, triple salchow cascade - double toe loop - double toe loop, parallel triple toe loop, triple salchow throw (hard). With a score of 162.86 points in the free program and 245.84 points in total, the athletes become world champions in 2018.

Savchenko / Massot set a new world record in the free program - 162.86 points, and also broke the record of the Volosozhar / Trankov pair in the sum of two programs - 245.84 points. The German champions have amassed a collection of 21 top 10 points for program components. Alena Savchenko is now one of the most titled figure skaters in the history of figure skating: six-time world champion, Olympic champion and two-time Olympic bronze medalist, four-time European champion. Bruno Massot won his first world title.

“It was hard, but we were focused and did everything we planned. We tried to enjoy the moment even more than at the Olympics, but it was different. I really focused on the elements. At the end, I kissed the ice and thanked this arena,” said Savchenko.

“Physically it was hard. We were tired, we didn't have a planned preparation for the Worlds, and so we really made it through a lot of willpower, because we really wanted to show good results for our families who are sitting there in the stands. It was hard, but it was a magical moment,” added Masso.

Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (Russia) couldn't avoid mistakes in the free program. Quadruple twist of the second level of complexity, partner's double salchow, triple salchow throw, cascade of triple toe loop - double toe loop - partner's single toe loop, triple loop throw. For a free program, the couple receives 144.24 points, in the sum of two programs 225.53 points become the silver medalists of the World Championship.

We are glad that we were able to cope with stress and fatigue. Not everything was at the highest level, but we tried and gave 100 percent. We were able to take revenge after an unsuccessful performance in Korea, Tarasova said.

There was a feeling that even simple things are difficult. So we just went on knurled, trying to avoid some unpleasant accidents. At the end of the season, it’s quite easy to go along the knurled: the program is already rolled in, all the elements are in place, you skate them and skate them. I don’t even remember what kind of start we have - the ninth or tenth. After all, we didn’t miss a single one: we competed in the European Championship, in the Grand Prix finals, and in the Russian Championship, Morozov said.

Vanessa James/Morgan Sipre (France) almost made it to the free skate. Triple twist of the fourth level of complexity, cascade triple toe loop - double toe loop - double toe loop, fall on a triple salchow. Parallel triple salchow, throw triple flip. The French couple receives 143.04 points for the free program, gaining 218.36 points in total points and thereby guaranteeing itself a place on the prize podium.

“Finally, a dream come true. We are just happy. We did not expect a medal at the World Championships this season, at the European Championships we had such ambitions, but not here. Today it is like a gift. France has not had a medal in pair skating at the World Championships for 18 years, Sipre told the press

Natalia Zabiyako/Alexander Enbert (Russia) in the first half of the program looked extremely convincing, in the second, unfortunately, they made a lot of mistakes. Triple twist of the third level of complexity, cascade triple toe loop - double toe loop - single loop, triple parallel salchow (landing on two legs and touching with the partner's hand), throwing a triple flip, throwing a triple loop (hand touching ice). For the free program, the couple received 133.50 points. This result was only 6 in the free program.

Free program results

M	Athletes	A country	Sum	TES +	PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CO	IN	Ded. -
1	Alena Savchenko - Bruno Massot	GER	162.86	83.90	78.96	9.75	9.71	10.00	9.89	10.00	0.00
2		ROS	144.24	70.30	73.94	9.39	9.11	9.14	9.36	9.21	0.00
3		FRA	143.04	71.24	72.80	9.14	9.00	9.00	9.25	9.11	1.00
4		CAN	133.84	67.73	66.11	8.21	8.14	8.29	8.32	8.36	0.00
5		ITA	133.53	65.74	68.79	8.57	8.46	8.61	8.71	8.64	1.00
6		ROS	133.50	64.07	69.43	8.75	8.64	8.54	8.79	8.68	0.00
7	Yu Xiaoyu - Hao Zhang	WHALE	132.05	66.38	65.67	8.36	8.04	8.21	8.32	8.11	0.00
8		ITA	130.65	63.58	68.07	8.43	8.29	8.43	8.71	8.68	1.00
9		ROS	130.54	66.11	66.43	8.36	8.11	8.18	8.50	8.36	2.00
10	Cheng Peng - Jin Yang	WHALE	130.09	62.46	67.63	8.50	8.36	8.36	8.61	8.43	0.00
11	Anna Dushkova - Martin Bidar	CZECH	123.31	64.47	58.84	7.39	7.29	7.32	7.46	7.32	0.00
12	Tae Ok Em - Choo Sik Kim	North Korea	122.45	62.11	60.34	7.68	7.46	7.61	7.57	7.39	0.00
13		GER	121.57	62.43	59.14	7.43	7.21	7.50	7.39	7.43	0.00
14		ABC	119.09	60.71	58.38	7.32	7.21	7.32	7.32	7.32	0.00
15	Alexa Shimeka – Chris Knierim	USA	112.49	54.59	59.90	7.79	7.54	7.11	7.57	7.43	2.00
16		AVL	112.44	56.61	55.83	7.21	6.86	6.86	7.14	6.82	0.00

Final position

M	Athletes	A country	Sum	KP	PP
1	Alena Savchenko - Bruno Massot	GER	245.84	1	1
2	Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov	ROS	225.53	2	2
3	Vanessa James - Morgan Sipre	FRA	218.36	3	3
4	Natalya Zabiyako - Alexander Enbert	ROS	207.88	4	6
5	Nicole Della Monica - Matteo Guarise	ITA	206.06	5	5
6	Kirsten Moore-Towers - Michael Marinaro	CAN	204.33	10	4
7	Yu Xiaoyu - Hao Zhang	WHALE	203.36	9	7
8	Kristina Astakhova - Alexey Rogonov	ROS	202.16	7	9
9	Cheng Peng - Jin Yang	WHALE	202.07	6	10
10	Valentina Markei - Ondrej Hotarek	ITA	202.02	8	8
11	Anna Dushkova - Martin Bidar	CZECH	189.60	13	11
12	Tae Ok Em - Choo Sik Kim	North Korea	188.77	12	12
13	Annika Hocke - Ruben Blommaert	GER	184.83	16	13
14	Miriam Ziegler - Severin Kiefer	ABC	184.30	14	14
15	Alexa Shimeka – Chris Knierim	USA	182.04	11	15
16	Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya - Harley Windsor	AVL	177.46	15	16

There are victories that the world needs no less than someone who has become the owner of the highest of sports awards. I can put the victory in pair skating of Alena Savchenko and her partner Bruno Massot next to only one outstanding performance that happened before my eyes 24 years ago in the Olympic Lillehammer. There, too, there was the same "loser" as Alena - the American speed skater Dan Jensen, unsuccessfully chasing Olympic gold for three Olympics in a row.

In 1984, in Sarajevo, Jensen, who was not even nineteen, took 16th place in the kilometer distance and became fourth in the "five hundred". This could be regarded as a great start to a promising career, but then the athlete, who had already reached the level of world records, began to fail.

In 1988, in Calgary, he started at a distance of 500 meters, dedicating the run to his sister dying of leukemia. And he fell at a distance, not yet knowing that his sister never saw him at the start. Two days later, he fell in the same way on the "thousand".

Four years later, in Albertville, as in Sarajevo, he again finished fourth in the first distance of the skating program, stumbling on the last bend. But the second race became even more ridiculous, when, due to warm weather and a foggy gloom that kept creeping onto the skating rink, the ice became so limp that Jensen, with his ninety kilograms of live (without skates) weight, "drowned" in the very first meters, and his time finish was only twenty-sixth.

He fell (more precisely, he stumbled again) and at the first of his distances in Lillehammer. And at the “thousand”, the very last start of his last Olympic Games, when skating fans around the world no longer believed in any success and looked away at meetings, he won with a world record, making the whole stadium cry.

31 years and four minutes

The events in Pyeongchang unfolded according to the same scenario. However, it was harder for Alena Savchenko: for her, the 2018 Olympics was the fifth. Not the fact that the victorious, but for sure - the last.

On the eve of their start in the free program with Bruno Massot - with a gap of almost six and five points behind the two leading duets (too much to hope for victory), I asked Sarajevo Olympic champion Oleg Vasilyev what it means to perform at the Games in the strongest warm-up?

It's hard to explain in words, he replied. - There is an expression - to walk on the razor's edge. So, riding at the Olympic Games in the strongest warm-up, you really begin to feel what it is like. For the sake of four minutes spent on the ice at the Games, an athlete works for four years. Divide the number of hours spent in training during this time by the number of seconds that the free program lasts, and you will understand how great the tension of each of these seconds is. How hard it is to collect yourself and give your full maximum.

I myself understood all this not even when I was skating myself, but when I was preparing Tatyana Totmyanin and Maxim Marinin for the Games in Turin. Lena Valova and I were more fortunate in this regard: we got to the surface of world pair skating in 1983, and became Olympic champions just a year later.

How many years are included in Savchenko's four minutes? Four - that she skated with Bruno Massot? Fourteen - if you add ten years of performances with Robin Shelkovy? Or 31 that have passed since the day when little Alena's father brought her first skates as a gift?

lucky ball

It is believed among skaters that it is better to perform last - then, with a successful rental, the judges are much more generous in their assessments than in relation to those who went on the ice earlier. However, the first starting number in the strongest warm-up of the Olympic final is a success that one can only dream of. Sometimes athletes do not understand this, but experienced coaches know: waiting burns rapidly, devastates, devouring the chances of success.

It was not Alena who was lucky with the starting number, but Bruno, ”Vasiliev said. - Alena, it seems to me, would have withstood any stress, even if she had skated last. But Masso in this final was really hard - he doesn’t even have a tenth of the experience that Savchenko has. He must have been recovering for a long time after a mistake that happened through his fault in the short program.

Why did Savchenko and Massot go for a bluff, noting that they were going to perform a quadruple twist and two most difficult ejections in the free program, including four turns? I don't think it was done on purpose. When everything is at stake, consciousness sometimes throws up decisions that seem strange at first glance, perhaps - this was one of them: to force rivals to think about it, at least a little knock them out of the cocoon of their own concentration.

The skaters themselves thought about something completely different: that the first number, among other things, allows you to go on the ice in the best condition - immediately after the warm-up, with well-warmed up muscles. Yes, and there is no need to talk about other people's assessments - go and ride. Although who knows what thoughts Alena had in her head, who understood the price of this performance much better than her partner?

Valentine card for Alena

In Lillehammer, I asked Jensen what he was thinking as he stood at the start of his last Olympic distance? About the possible outcome? About rivals? And he unexpectedly replied: “For some reason, I remembered how at school for three years in a row on Valentine’s Day I sent a postcard with a gift to a girl that I really liked. And a postcard from her all three years came to a guy from a neighboring class ... "

However, this is definitely not about Savchenko. Yes, probably not about her partner either. As Bruno admitted after the performance, he did not sleep the night after the short program, did not find a place for himself, did not know how and how to atone for a mistake that, if it cannot be corrected, it will certainly be impossible to ever forget. I do not think that it is worth trying to imagine this state - it will not work. But the word given to himself, Massot kept. "I knew going into the rental that we would now rush to this program like tigers," he will say after the rental. And, without hesitation, he will answer the question in the affirmative if he and his partner will go to the World Cup in Milan.

But it was after all. And a little earlier, when the German couple finished the skate - the most beautiful and most poignant thing that ever happened at the Olympics, and the skaters went to the center of the rink for the traditional bow, Alena suddenly turned to Bruno and knelt down in front of him. And no words were needed to understand that with this intuitive impulse she thanked him for everything at once. For not flinching. For the fact that not once in four years has he given reason to doubt himself. For having walked with her on this Olympic blade, using a chance that in fact almost never happened.

In any sport there is a special person who succeeds in everything better than others. In figure skating, an athlete from Ukraine, performing under the German flag, Alena Savchenko, became special. In the sports biography of the girl, there are more than 10 gold medals at international competitions, and after performing at the Olympics in 2018, there is also a world record.

Childhood and youth

Alena Valentinovna Savchenko was born on January 19, 1984 in the town of Obukhov near Kyiv, Ukraine. Valentin and Nina Savchenko have four children: three sons and daughter Alena. Although the parents of the future figure skater worked as teachers, the girl inherited the sports genes and the will to win from them.

Valentin Savchenko taught physical education at school, and at some point in his life he taught athletics in Germany. Valentin himself holds the title of Master of Sports of the Soviet Union in weightlifting. Nina Savchenko also attended sports training, although she did not achieve serious achievements.

Alena was barely 3 years old when the girl asked her father for skates as a gift for the holiday. Valentin Savchenko took his little daughter to a lake not far from home and taught her to stand and move on the ice. At first, the girl was terribly afraid of falling, but quickly overcame her fears. After 2 years, 5-year-old Alena was sent to the figure skating section, located in Kyiv. It was there that the coach first noted the girl's talent.

Considering that the salary of Ukrainian teachers is low, Alena's parents could not afford to rent an apartment in Kyiv, and for almost 10 years her daughter went to training 50 km in each direction. Parents had to wake up at 4.30 in the morning to take their daughter to training in Kyiv by 7.00. After several months of training, the girl was transferred to doubles - the most difficult in figure skating.

Even in her youth, the girl competed at competitions, invariably taking prizes, but the entire burden of financial support for training and performances lay on the shoulders of her parents - Valentina and Nina Savchenko. At some point, they really wanted their daughter to play the piano instead of grueling workouts at the rink.

Figure skating

Alena Savchenko began her career in the Dynamo Kyiv sports society. The first partner of the girl was the beginning figure skater Dmitry Boenko. Despite the busy training schedule, the guys performed unsuccessfully at the World Youth Championship, taking only 13th place.

After that, Alena changed both the coach and the partner. Becoming paired with Stanislav Aleksandrovich Morozov under the leadership of the champion of the Soviet Union Galina Vladislavovna Kukhar, the girl achieved excellent results. Speaking in 2000 at the youth world championship, the guys brought home gold medals.

Then there were victories at the national championship, and in 2002 the athletes represented Ukraine at the Olympics, held in Salt Lake City, where they took 15th place. After the performance, Morozov was seriously injured and even thought about ending his career in sports, as a result of which Alena began to look for a new partner.

The next partner for Alena was invited from St. Petersburg. Russian Anton Nemenko was already preparing to move to Kyiv, but the couple did not receive funding and soon broke up - Anton returned to Russia. The girl did not want to leave Ukraine and even complained to her parents that she could not imagine life in Germany and performances under the German flag.

But soon Alena became a German citizen, and was coached by athlete Ingo Steuer. Robin Szolkowy, who was free at that time, became an excellent partner for Alena. Together, the guys took gold at the national championship, at the European championship they became fourth, and at the world championship they received only sixth place.

In 2006, Savchenko and the Szolkows represented Germany at the Olympics, which took place in February in Turin, Italy. The couple finished in 6th place. But a year later, the athletes took third place at the World Championships and first in Europe. The following season, the couple confirmed the title of European champions and received gold at the World Championships. By 2011, the athletes had 3 golds at the World Championships and 4 at the European Championships.

On the eve of the continental championship, the guys refused to participate due to Alena's injury. But already in March 2012, the skaters took first place at the World Championships. At the same time, the couple successfully performed at the Grand Prix in figure skating in Windsor, Canada.

However, she refused to participate in the next stage of the tournament, because Alena fell ill. At the world and European championships this season, Savchenko and the Sholkovs lost to the Russians and.

Alena's parents in an interview say that the Ukrainian athlete remained a stranger in Germany - the Germans do not worry about the success of the athlete and do not accept her as their own, although the girl invariably achieves victories in international competitions under the German flag.

In 2014, the figure skaters went to the Olympics in Sochi for gold, so the third place they took was a serious disappointment for them. The reason for the failure was gross errors in the execution of an arbitrary program.

In the same year, Robin Sholkovy announced that he was ending his sports career and plans to become a coach, and the Frenchman Bruno Massot became Savchenko's new partner. The German Alexander Koenig became the coach of the duet Savchenko-Masso.

Personal life

Alena devoted all her youth to hard training and sporting achievements, so there was neither time nor energy left for the guys. But in the German city of Oberheim, Alena and Bruno were invited to a party where the skater met British artist Liam Cross.

Despite the age difference, which is 8 years, sympathy broke out between the young people, and soon Liam already became the official husband of the Ukrainian athlete. The wedding took place in Germany in an old castle. Alena and Liam invited only family members and closest friends to the celebration. Alyona posted several romantic photos from the wedding on her Instagram page.

The athlete has so far refused to take her husband's surname because of the upcoming performance at the 2018 Olympics, but plans to become Alena Cross in the future.

Alena Savchenko now

Speaking at the World Championships in March 2017, Ukrainian Alena and French Bruno took second place for Germany, losing to a duet from China. Immediately after the competition, the athletes began intense preparations for the 2018 Olympics.

On the eve of the performance, it became known that Alena's health worsened - the skater caught a cold, she was worried about pain in her leg. But even this did not stop - Savchenko and Massot at the 2018 Olympics.

Alena and Bruno skated the free program not only successfully, but setting a world record - 159.31 points, breaking their own record of last season in the Grand Prix final.

Achievements

• 2006 - bronze medal at the European Championship
• 2007 - gold medal at the European Championship
• 2008 - gold medal at the European Championship
• 2008 - gold medal at the World Championships
• 2009 - gold medal at the European Championship
• 2009 - gold medal at the World Championships
• 2010 - silver medal at the European Championship
• 2010 - bronze medal at the Olympic Games
• 2011 - gold medal at the European Championship
• 2011 - gold medal at the World Championships
• 2012 - gold medal at the World Championships
• 2013 - silver medal at the European Championship
• 2014 - bronze medal at the Olympic Games
• 2014 - gold medal at the World Championships
• 2016 - silver medal at the European Championship
• 2017 - silver medal at the European Championship
• 2017 - silver medal at the World Championships
• 2018 - gold medal at the Olympic Games

The parents of the chosen one of the famous champion serve at a military base in Germany

She never ceases to amaze and delight the audience. The eminent figure skater Alena SAVCHENKO changed her country, citizenship, three partners, and when everyone thought that she would already hang her skates on a nail, she threw a new challenge to fate. The five-time world champion is preparing for her third Olympics - now paired with Frenchman Bruno MASSO.

At the Grand Prix stage in Moscow Alena Savchenko surprised by the fact that she decided to perform a quadruple jump at the very end of the free program. When the forces are already running out. She turned all the turns, but the landing was unsuccessful. Figure skater and her partner Bruno Massot, playing for Germany, as expected, took first place. But Savchenko, a maximalist by nature, was unhappy.

- Alena, why did you take such a risk? Usually at the end of the program, no one dares to do this.

And for me, the quadruple salchow is even easier than the triple axel. I am not kidding. Bruno throws me so high that I have time to scroll through all the turns. It is convenient for me to jump the quadruple at the very end. And soon you will see: I will do it!

To be honest, I didn’t think that I would ever perform again in Moscow at the Cup of Russia. The first time I appeared at this tournament back in 1999, when I skated in tandem with Stas Morozov for Ukraine. It's nice that I'm still very well received in Russia.

But I can't forget how Bruno and I both fell so stupidly on the salchow in the short program. It never happened. Maybe it's all about the skirt? I'm not used to it - they sewed it for me only a week before the start of the tournament.

When you first paired up with Bruno Massot, did he feel some kind of reverence for you? Still, you are a five-time world champion, he does not have such regalia.

Yes, I felt it at the first trainings. It's like a heavy weight is on his shoulders. And she said to her partner: “Bruno, forget about all my titles, otherwise we will not achieve anything. We are equal now."

- Have you considered the option that you will play for France?

Oh, there was a thought. I did not think that Bruno would be easily released to Germany. Yes, my coach Ingo Steuer(we worked with him for many years) added fuel to the fire. He was denied funding in Germany, so Steuer wanted us to play for France. But he asked for too much money - to be honest, it shocked me. If for a person money is above all - well, what can be done here? He didn't want to work with us.

After Steuer refused, we turned to the German Figure Skating Federation. We were recommended Alexandra Koenig. He previously paired with Peggy Schwartz and then became a technician. Koenig simply exudes calmness. Lately I've been so fed up with all these stresses, volcanoes of emotions... After four weeks of working together, Bruno and I decided that we were finally moving to Oberstdorf.

In general, I would love to play for Ukraine, but there are no conditions for training there. So thank you Germany. She gave us conditions.

- Have you already taught your partner some Ukrainian words?

No. What is gorilka, he does not know yet ( laughs). We speak English with Bruno - it's easier for him to understand. But he intensively learns German. One of our two coaches speaks to him in French and the other in German.

Your former partner, Robin Shelkovy, is now helping Nina Moser train Russian couples. How do you communicate with Robin?

Hello at the competition. And nothing more. He chose a different path for himself.

- At the Olympics in Sochi, did you already know that you would part with Shelkova and skate with another partner?

I remember, in December 2013, the Canadian figure skater Eric Redford during the Grand Prix final, he asked me at dinner: “Alena, what will you do after the Olympics?” This question was asked to me by all and sundry, and he got me sick of it. I went up to my room and began to think what I want. And honestly answered myself that I do not want to leave the sport. I love ice, I love competition - it's such a thrill, such a drive! I love the audience that cheers for me. In short, I realized that you can go to the ice show later. But Robin did not want to continue his career. He said he was tired. That's why I ride with another partner.

dad knows more

Last summer, 32-year-old Alena Savchenko gave her fans another surprise - she married an English artist Liam Cross.

- How did you meet your husband?

It happened in Oberstdorf. Just when I started skating with Bruno Massot. I could not even imagine that I would meet an Englishman there and marry him! But that's exactly what happened. We met in a group of friends. Liam had no idea who I was, he is far from figure skating. But his dad, when Liam showed him my photo, immediately told his son that he had seen me on TV. And that I am the world champion.

- What was the reaction of the future husband?

According to Liam, he was a little embarrassed. Then he began to torture me: why didn’t I tell him about my successes in figure skating. I joked in response that then he might not have started dating me. ( Laughs.) Liam constantly draws something, makes engravings, sketches. He also painted me. Until then, sketches. A large portrait of me, I think he will write later.

How were you received by his parents?

Amazing! They adore me. Every Sunday, Tracy (that's my mother-in-law's name) cooks a purely English dinner for me. This is to keep me from losing too much weight. ( Laughs.). Tracy and her husband Steve are military men, they serve in the British army. One of the NATO military bases is located just in Oberstdorf.

- Alena, you are related to a very nice family! How was the wedding?

We played it in an old castle, 70 kilometers from Oberstdorf. This castle stands on the lake, everything was beautiful and romantic. Of course, my parents came from Kyiv. Bruno was also at the wedding with his girlfriend. By the way, he quickly found a common language with my husband, they became friends.

- Do you often visit Ukraine?

Unfortunately, rarely. Mom and dad often visit me in Germany.

- In Moscow, you were presented with a large bar of chocolate "Alenka". Will you go yourself?

No. I'll give it to my husband - he loves sweets. And I can't get better.

- How many more years do you plan to play in big sport?

Until the 2018 Olympics in Korea, I will hold out for sure. ( Smiling.) And it will be seen there. I don't want to guess anything.

By the way

For all the time of performances for the national team of Ukraine Alena Savchenko at the expense of the local federation, only one dress was sewn and one pair of skates was bought. All other tracksuits were paid for by the skater's parents.

Estimate!

Together with Robin Shelkovy, Alena won four European Championships for Germany, five World Championships and won two Olympic bronze medals (2010, 2014).

Great stubbornness. How Alena Savchenko defeated the Olympic gods

The Ukrainian figure skater representing Germany finally managed to win a gold medal at her fifth Olympics.

"EAT! EAT!"

In a special room where the current leaders are waiting for the end of the competition, she sat almost motionless, covering her face to her eyes with a handkerchief. Even when the main competitors from China received 0.43 points less, and her partner Bruno Massot gave vent to feelings, she outwardly did not react in any way. After all, there was one more couple - Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov.

Articles | Anna Pogorilaya: Tarasova and Morozov were prevented by the thought "we must!"

And now the scoreboard showed the scores of the Russian duet, which eventually became only the fourth. There was nothing more to be afraid of, and Alena Savchenko was thrown from the sofa, as if from a catapult. "Eat! Eat!" she shouted, triumphantly waving her fists over her head.

And in the “tears and kisses” zone, next to Tarasova and Morozov, her former partner Robin Sholkovy sat dejectedly, who won five world championships with Savchenko in the same pair skating (the first ten years ago), but in 2014 he ended his career as a figure skater and became coach. He was then tired of fighting against the wall of Olympic bad luck that pursued their duet: with a huge number of victories in the international arena, all they managed to achieve at the Games was two bronze medals - in Vancouver 2010 and then in Sochi. Szolkowy decided that he had had enough. Now he works in the Moscow group of trainers under the guidance of Nina Moser.

Savchenko did not want to give up. For one season, she disappeared from the radar, but in 2015 she appeared on the ice again - with a little-known hefty (184 cm tall) Frenchman. Many shrugged. Who is this? Where is she going? For what?..

TEACHER OF PARTNERS

But a native of the town of Obukhov, in the Kyiv region, knew perfectly well what she wanted. After all, she had more than once had to start all over again with a new partner (at her first Olympics in Salt Lake City 2002, Savchenko still skated for Ukraine and took 15th place with Stanislav Morozov) and, therefore, she knows a lot about them . Alena chose Masso herself, from several possible options. He was given German citizenship, and they slowly began to perform.

At first, the Frenchman looked very awkward. And Savchenko herself often fell. Coming back in your 30s with a bunch of old injuries is not the easiest thing to do. And yet, gradually, the duo began to open up. Already last season, everyone saw what Alena saw from the very beginning: Massot's enormous potential. She raised this guy to be a real star. And when now Bruno throws it to the very ceiling in a backspin or “carries” it on an outstretched arm during the most difficult support, the stands gasp with admiration, and the judges automatically set the maximum points.

For the Olympic season, they prepared excellent programs with beautiful images and "chips" (already in something, in what, and Savchenko knows a lot about this). And in December, at the Grand Prix finals, they beat everyone, breaking the world record in the free program! It became clear: Alena Valentinovna Savchenko (she turned 34 in January) will go into the last attack on Olympus fully armed, as in her best years.

Although in Pyeongchang, at first, things were neither shaky nor rolly. In the team tournament, Savchenko fell from the ejection, and the German team did not qualify for the free program. Yesterday in a short (already personal) Massot "doubled" a parallel salchow, which cost them five or six points behind the leaders from China and Russia. And finally, here it is, the last Olympic rental.