TJ may not have competed for a while but I think he’s going to be a stronger partner, skating wise, than people realise. He can jump and I’d be very surprised if he has any trouble throwing Aljona.
Besides, Aljona was in Monument for at least a week at the end of April or the beginning of May, so I’ve no doubt she skated with TJ then. I can’t imagine her doing this unless she thought they could succeed on an International level.
I’ve no idea what Aljona’s long term plans may be, so this is going to be very interesting to watch and see what happens.
I know she missed competing, but I didn’t expect this. Skating never fails to surprise.
I agree. I remembered Aljona being reported as saying that when she picked Bruno, she specifically wanted someone who could throw her higher in twists and throw jumps. So I looked up TJ's height. If Wiki can be believed, he's one and a half inches taller than Bruno. And he's had a long time to develop strength as a pairs partner since he competed with Feng. Charlie White recently said that between the ages of 19 and 22, he was able to develop muscle power in a comparatively remarkable way. Testosterone.
Well, something no one has mentioned is what a much more remarkable pairs skater Aljona became with Bruno in terms of connection and communicating very small nuances and details to audiences that made such a difference in their impact. IMO of course, but Bruno gave a wonderful interview with Ice Network about it. He didn't take sole credit for it, but he said the team worked on those small details. Also, my impression was that she was able to be receptive and relaxed in a new way with Bruno, their coaching team of Konig and Ballester, and her husband Liam. It's not just speculation, she said so in an interview but I'm sorry, I don't have a link.
So on several levels, it will be interesting to see what develops.