Aliona kind of contradicts herself when she says that no matter how hard Robin tried, he would never have been able to do a quad twist with her because it was physically impossible, and in the next breath says that there is no limit to physical abilities, it's all mental. All in all, it does read as a not so subtle dig at Robin.
I can't read minds so I don't know what she meant. I do know, however, that S/S's twist was literally never a great element for them. S/M's twist, on the other hand, was awesome right off the bat. Which makes me think that, yes, it was Robin who could not do it any better. I believe what she said. It was obvious Robin worked extremely hard, he was an amazing skater and a very secure lifter, but there was an obvious limit to what he could do. In addition, I like that she said "we didn't deliver", "we didn't reach our goals". She speaks as a member of a team, even though, to be brutally honest, it was Robin who zambonied the ice at both of their Olympic free skates. In Sochi, if Robin didn't fall on the 3T, they might have gone for the 3S throw at the end instead of the pure desperation of a 3A (they did win GPF that year with the 3S after all).
About Ingo, I seem to remember that when S/M teamed up, there were reports that he asked to be paid to coach them. Back then, the French fed prohibited Massot from doing even shows, so they had absolutely no source of income (I remember Aljona started selling some figure skating clothers online? to raise money). The German fed was not paying because they were not competing. I think Aljona back then said in public that she was surprized Ingo asked for a fee knowing they had no money. But, Ingo has to eat too, and life is not fair. I am really, really happy things worked out.
I have endless respect for Aliona and wish her all the best. She seems honest in what she says, and not afraid. I am very happy to see her competing again.
Thank you, Tanka, for translating.
