Bruno Massot called Savchenko “A tyrant” and said he has PTSD after working with her.

[raruki]

The Skating Lesson

Bruno Massot on Aljona Savchenko.

www.facebook.com

 

[canbelto]

Somehow this is not surprising at all, yet deeply depressing.

It's sad she doesn't seem to have good relationships with any of the people she worked closely with. Not Robin, not Ingo, not Bruno ... no one. And now, not even Liam.

 

[dramagrrl]

Very sad. I was a huge fan of her skating and of her as an athlete, and wished for years that she would finally get her Olympic dream. I still rewatch the moment when she and Bruno found out that they had won the gold in Pyeongchang every few months. It's a shame that her partners had to sacrifice so much and deal with mistreatment to help her get there.

 

[caseyedwards]

It’s understandable. She has a total difficult genius temperament

 

[once_upon]

Not Alexis and Chris either. I think that's why she didn't work out as a coach, too difficult too much expectations with her students.
I know Chris was ready to be done, but I'm guessing working with Aljiona was enough to break him.

 

[On My Own]

Er. I wondered if the screenshots were from goldenskate because the layout seemed familiar, and TSL didn't source the interview. https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/t...b-stories-of-couples-in-figure-skating.95019/

It seems like it, and a post in that thread says it's a paid article... People should be careful with circulating the screenshots.

Anyway, sad (but expected). I hope Massot feels better.

 

[swissskate]

I think it‘s part of an article by L‘Equipe Magazine where several couples are mentionned and the way they worked together, Pechalat/Bourzat, Anissina/Peizerat and so on

 

[On My Own]

I think it‘s part of an article by L‘Equipe Magazine where several couples are mentionned and the way they worked together, Pechalat/Bourzat, Anissina/Peizerat and so on

It is. It's a paid article. I don't think we can do anything about it though, it also caught fire on twitter. At least it's only a part of it.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Holy Molyyyyy

I wonder if this has anything to do with Alexa and Chris doing a U-turn after just like a month or so in Germany…

If so they went from one abusive coach to another. Tragic

 

[Frau Muller]

No wonder that Aljona got on with Dalilah and TJ…remember the short-lived move to the US?

Why Alexa and Chris couldn’t train with Aljona earlier (in Germany)?

Now this. Sigh.

ANL, we posted at the same time! Holy Molyyyy indeed.

 

[Marco]

While this all sounds upsetting, it is also somewhat expected. Elite competitive skating is hard, both on the body and on the soul, esp when you have to partner with someone else and don't always get to make decisions on your own.

He was an adult when he chose to partner with her. I doubt he mistakenly believed her to be easy going when they partnered up. She looked and acted like a diva through and through.

That said, it would be highly unlikely that he could call himself an OGM if he were to partner with someone else / lower calibre / more easy going. There's a lot of give-and-take here.

 

[rfisher]

We saw him skate with his previous partners. He'd have never won any of the medals he now has without Savchenko, . He's a grown man and nobody forced him to do anything. He wanted what she could provide by becoming an OGM winner. I also have real issues about quotes taken out of context and not citing the original source.

 

[On My Own]

I also have real issues about quotes taken out of context and not citing the original source.

Sadly, it looks to me that TSL actually stole it from this tweet: https://twitter.com/twistandtwizzle/status/1628204941952094209 going by the timestamps. And this tweet didn't source it. And it very much does look like the OP on that GS thread posted a machine translation originally, which is where the screencaps seem to come from. Of course, TSL signal boosted it much more with their platform.

That being said...

We saw him skate with his previous partners. He'd have never won any of the medals he now has without Savchenko, . He's a grown man and nobody forced him to do anything. He wanted what she could provide by becoming an OGM winner.

Well, he didn't exactly complain during the time. He is allowed to now. If you remember, he also had many issues with the French fed.

 

[Miezekatze]

Somehow this is not surprising at all, yet deeply depressing.

It's sad she doesn't seem to have good relationships with any of the people she worked closely with. Not Robin, not Ingo, not Bruno ... no one. And now, not even Liam.

I think her relationship with Robin is OK. They hung out at Nebelhorn last September.

And given Ingos personality, having a good relationship with him is quite an achievement for anybody.

Based on the documentary on aljona and bruno, according to what Bruno said in it, it was Bruno who refused to continue working with Ingo, so one could equally argue that Bruno gets along with nobody from that list either.

I don't think it makes him look particulary good if he basically blames her for him physically pushing her, no matter how difficult a character she is. (if those quotes are legit and translated properly).

 

[hanca]

I have to admit, I struggle to feel sympathetic towards him. It is not as if he was a helpless child. If it was getting too much, he could have stopped any time. He was an adult and he knew in advance what he was getting into. He was an average elite skater (his best results were 15th at worlds and 11th at Europeans) and wanted an Olympic medal. How did he think he would get there? His coaches would wave a magic wand and suddenly from an average elite skater will be a top elite skater?

 

[marbri]

Is he asking for sympathy?
Or is he just being frank describing his experience after 5 years of reflection?

 

[swissskate]

Bruno was very close to Jean-François Ballester and J-F had a totally different training philosophy than Aliona. I think it‘s very clear that this might have been quite a change for Bruno when he teamed up with her. Of course none of the medals he got with her would be his now should he have decided to skate with somebody else, bearing her stubbornness was the price to pay for it.
Bruno is obviously trying to teach a different philosophy in his pairs school now, there was also an article in L‘Equipe a few weeks ago.

 

[cholla]

No wonder that Aljona got on with Dalilah and TJ…remember the short-lived move to the US?

When I saw Aljona and Nymann working together, they didn't seem to get along at all! Or, more exactly, she didn't look happy. At all. Nor did he

 

[rfisher]

I have no sympathy for Massot. He was way below her level of talent and the only way to get where they both wanted to be was to work hard. He knew that when he agreed to skate with her. Savchenko has a strong work drive and expects others to have the same and few do. But, this type of whining is unprofessional on his part as an adult skater. And, I agree that his blaming her for his actions, is very problematic. He could have left the partnership before wining an OGM and World title if it was so distressing. They weren't children and she was always very clear as to her goals and end game.

 

[BittyBug]

The view that the end justify the means is exactly why we have so much abuse in skating.

 

[Primorskaya]

Seriously, is anyone surprised? And just because he's a big bloke and she's a tiny woman, doesn't mean we have to have the knee-jerk reaction that he must be somehow the wrong one in this. From what we know of Aliona, if I can believe that of any woman, I can believe it of her.

 

[Miezekatze]

The view that the end justify the means is exactly why we have so much abuse in skating.

But if any other male pairs skater pushed his partner physically and excused it with her tyranic personality, the whole board would explode in calls for SafeSport.

 

[marbri]

I have no sympathy for Massot. He was way below her level of talent and the only way to get where they both wanted to be was to work hard. He knew that when he agreed to skate with her. Savchenko has a strong work drive and expects others to have the same and few do. But, this type of whining is unprofessional on his part as an adult skater. And, I agree that his blaming her for his actions, is very problematic. He could have left the partnership before wining an OGM and World title if it was so distressing. They weren't children and she was always very clear as to her goals and end game.

When you dig your heels in you really dig your heels in....

 

[Vagabond]

He was an adult when he chose to partner with her. I doubt he mistakenly believed her to be easy going when they partnered up. She looked and acted like a diva through and through.

We saw him skate with his previous partners. He'd have never won any of the medals he now has without Savchenko, . He's a grown man and nobody forced him to do anything.

People seldom see the insidiousness of an abuser until they are in or, more likely, have left such a relationship.

But if any other male pairs skater pushed his partner physically and excused it with her tyranic personality, the whole board would explode in calls for SafeSport.

Abuse is not a justification for what he did, but it is an explanation. Many people who are or have been subject to abuse do reprehensible things either to protect themselves or because their abusers have warped their minds.

The comments I have quoted in this post exemplify why people who experience abuse keep quiet about it. Kudos to Bruno Massot for speaking out.

 

[Tesla]

But if any other male pairs skater pushed his partner physically and excused it with her tyranic personality, the whole board would explode in calls for SafeSport.

And if the roles were reversed, if he were the tyrant, the whole board would be exploding for calls to SafeSport and defending her.

 

[Tesla]

I have no sympathy for Massot. He was way below her level of talent and the only way to get where they both wanted to be was to work hard. He knew that when he agreed to skate with her. Savchenko has a strong work drive and expects others to have the same and few do. But, this type of whining is unprofessional on his part as an adult skater. And, I agree that his blaming her for his actions, is very problematic. He could have left the partnership before wining an OGM and World title if it was so distressing. They weren't children and she was always very clear as to her goals and end game.

THIS is why men don't report abuse.

(I thought this deserved to be highlighted in a separate post.)

 

[On My Own]

But if any other male pairs skater pushed his partner physically and excused it with her tyranic personality, the whole board would explode in calls for SafeSport.

"Pushed her away" doesn't mean this though? It's not the same as hitting them.

 

[Vagabond]

@Tesla I love your user title and the avatar that goes with it.

Now, everyone, please carry on with the discussion.

 

[hanca]

"Pushed her away" doesn't mean this though? It's not the same as hitting them.

What he is saying is that she was emotionally abusive towards him and he turned physical. Pushed away may mean a wide range of things. You can push away someone and nothing happens to that person. Or you can push away someone in such way that they fall on their bottom on the ice and hit their head on the ground… he didn’t specify how he pushed her, so I am curious why are you trying to excuse it that it is not as if he hit her. There are ‘push away’ that the police would call an assault.

 

[On My Own]

What he is saying is that she was emotionally abusive towards him and he turned physical. Pushed away may mean a wide range of things. You can push away someone and nothing happens to that person. Or you can push away someone in such way that they fall on their bottom on the ice and hit their head on the ground… he didn’t specify how he pushed her, so I am curious why are you trying to excuse it that it is not as if he hit her. There are ‘push away’ that the police would call an assault.

I didn't get that from the translation at all. "She insulted me, she was close to me, and I pushed her away". Suggests that she was in his personal space insulting him and he removed her from it. "It was like raising my hand on her". Which to me, means that he didn't hit her and didn't raise his hands on her, just that this simple act of removing her from his personal space was already something he'd always prevented himself from doing.

We don't know which extent of pushing her away he did, but if the translation had said he shoved her, I wouldn't be saying what I said at all. Instead, I'd just be agreeing with Vagabond.

Also, lol, accusing me of excusing abuse when you're out here liking posts about how you feel no sympathy for him Probably your weakest attempt at turning the tables I've seen.