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

[TAHbKA]

Savchenko was nothing but nice about Massot in her book. I wonder wtf is wrong with him now having to bash her in press. If he has a PTSD he should take it to a professional and send Savchenko a bill, not attempt to ruin her coaching career in the press

 

[Vagabond]

Savchenko was nothing but nice about Massot in her book. I wonder wtf is wrong with him now having to bash her in press. If he has a PTSD he should take it to a professional and send Savchenko a bill, not attempt to ruin her coaching career in the press

Speaking for myself and not for Bruno Massot, I can say that the only way I will ever be free of the abuse I experienced at my brothers' hands is to speak up about it, and not just to a therapist.

 

[skatfan]

Savchenko was nothing but nice about Massot in her book. I wonder wtf is wrong with him now having to bash her in press. If he has a PTSD he should take it to a professional and send Savchenko a bill, not attempt to ruin her coaching career in the press

Huh, I always thought an abuse victim has the right to speak about their abuse, instead of keeping silent to protect the abuser.

 

[Judy]

Huh. Well the things you didn’t know.

 

[TAHbKA]

Speaking for myself and not for Bruno Massot, I can say that the only way I will ever be free of the abuse I experienced at my brothers' hands is to speak up about it, and not just to a therapist.

So did you go to the press before or after taking it with the professionals and actually seeking help? Or instead?

I have a feeling there are 2 sides and we'll never read Savchenko's side where a lazy lad twice her size is close to beating her because she dared to demand he works hard enough. Or Massot's side that leaving his country, changing his life, being super uncomfortable.and bwing demanded to work much harder than he was used to... was not necessarily Savchenko's fault.

 

[MsZem]

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

IIRC, Bruno trained in Chemnitz for a while a few years before they teamed up, so he would have had some idea of who he was dealing with. And, indeed, he was an adult, and not powerless.

But this does not justify the behavior he's reporting. It's no secret that Savchenko has always been driven and ambitious, but if it crossed the line into outright abuse, he should definitely speak out - for his own good, and so that this doesn't repeat itself with her coaching.

 

[Vagabond]

So did you go to the press before or after taking it with the professionals and actually seeking help? Or instead?

I have a feeling there are 2 sides and we'll never read Savchenko's side where a lazy lad twice her size is close to beating her because she dared to demand he works hard enough. Or Massot's side that leaving his country, changing his life, being super uncomfortable.and bwing demanded to work much harder than he was used to... was not necessarily Savchenko's fault.

I am not a public figure, I have been through therapy, and I am considering publishing writing about my experiences. Even if I do, though, Bruno Massot will have more impact than I.

"Two sides to everything" is a tired old line people toss out to further invalidate people who have suffered from abuse. My eldest brother didn't ask to be a pedophile, and my other brother didn't ask to be abused himself. That doesn't change the fact that they molested me.

 

[tony]

Yes, Massot could’ve gotten out of the situation if he hated it that much, but how many times do we see that actually happen when the results are good, or in their case, the best?

And I most certainly do agree that if the roles were switched, 90% of the board or more would all have the same (very different) reaction and list out all the reasons why Savchenko was stuck. And probably there would be petitions and screenshots of emails all over the internet asking for Bruno to be permanently banned.

As for airing it all over social media or in interviews— I’m used to my generation and everyone younger making their social media a diary/always updating about everything in their lives, so what he did doesn’t strike me as out of character regardless of whether he’s a top athlete. And I want to add- even doing it now, it’s within his right. People don’t need to talk about their traumas ASAP nor should they be held to do so.

What I do wonder is if things were always rough and then Olympic gold happened, to calm it all, but then maybe it escalated again when they joined up for shows in 2021 and there were rumors that they would try again for 2022- she even shared my Instagram story suggesting it. Maybe the disagreement there was bigger than we know and it triggered all of this for him again.

 

[canbelto]

So did you go to the press before or after taking it with the professionals and actually seeking help? Or instead?

I have a feeling there are 2 sides and we'll never read Savchenko's side where a lazy lad twice her size is close to beating her because she dared to demand he works hard enough. Or Massot's side that leaving his country, changing his life, being super uncomfortable.and bwing demanded to work much harder than he was used to... was not necessarily Savchenko's fault.

Whoa. Louder for those in the back: ABUSE IS NOT ABOUT PHYSICALLY OVERPOWERING SOMEONE. Aljona is a tiny woman but it doesn't mean she was incapable of abusing Bruno. This is why people don't report abuse, because of all this "it's your fault" nonsense.
Also, I have no idea why him getting an OGM means he's supposed to shut up aboiut this. By the same token, should Aly have shut up about Larry Nassar and Marta Karolyi? Aly got OGM's too.

 

[canbelto]

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.

Whoa. This is some toxic thinking here. By the same token, I guess all the US gymnasts who won a bunch of medals should have shut up about Marta Karolyi?

 

[coppertop1]

So many of these dismissive comments sound way too much like when Bridget Namiotka came forward. The same old tired BS blaming the victim and defensive the abuser. And people wonder why victims don't report? Look in the mirror

 

[Rukia]

I ummm...wow. I'm surprised by this thread. I get that some of you love her as a skaters, but she doesn't need you to defend her bad actions. You can says, "Wow I loved her skating," while still saying, "but also I think she may not have been great to her partner." And just because she is still seemingly on good terms with another old partner, that doesn't mean anything. She still could have been abusive to another one.

Speaking out isn't trying to ruin someone's career either.

Just wow.

 

[canbelto]

So many of these dismissive comments sound way too much like when Bridget Namiotka came forward. The same old tired BS blaming the victim and defensive the abuser. And people wonder why victims don't report? Look in the mirror

Also ... not skating but when Tatiana Gutsu came forward about Vitaly Scherbo.

 

[coppertop1]

Also ... not skating but when Tatiana Gutsu came forward about Vitaly Scherbo.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the first Nassar victims got attacked, too.

 

[Miezekatze]

For me this situation is not really comparable with an abusive coach/student relationship, cause Aljona was not Brunos coach obviously, but we're talking about 2 adult partners.
They were equal partners from a power balance point of view, not coach-student, not adult-teenager.

Ingo certainly was abusive to Aljona and Bruno (and Mandy) and probably countless others, so basically Aljonas whole career was formed by toxic coaching relationships, which was written down in books, even before Bruno teamed up with her. In comparison to Aljona/Robin/Ingo her partnership with Bruno seemed a huge improvement, at least after they moved to Alexander Koenig, but of course she's a ruthless competitor and a very complicated partner, but from all that Bruno said over the years and how he spoke in the documentary, he's probably not the most uncomplicated partner either. They both sounded "interesting". And if I recall the documentation, they indeed considered quitting at some point.

And no, MsZem, Bruno did not train in Chemnitz before he skated with Aljona, I think that's a mixup. You're probably thinking of Robin?

 

[chameleonster]

The way people are talking about this is just gross. The entire reason he kept quiet and just took the verbal abuse was that she was more successful and advancing his career so he should just shut up and take it, that this is what it means to be a champion. Bruno not only had to work his butt off at the rink, but spent a year with almost no income because he couldn't get released and came close to sleeping in his car and became fluent on German in three years.

"He was an adult he knew what he was getting into" Aside from the horrible implication that adults can't be abused if they "know better" it's often hard to grasp exactly how bad a situation might be before you get into it. Yes he knew she was intense and exacting with crazy high standards and even harsh about it. But did he know he would be expected to work through injuries and illness? Even if he had some idea of her personality and behaviour in the rink, it's often easy to misjudge the extent of how bad it will be over a long period of time, four years of this daily treatment is a lot. Thinking "I can take it, I'm an elite athlete, I'm tough enough to handle it" is likely how he got into this situation, and once he did it was difficult to get out. The French Fed was screwing him over and he had to rely on income from the German Federation until he finally got released like a year and a half later. At that point, even if Aljona's behaviour was wearing him down, could he really feel like he could back out on them when they helped him out? Imagine if he had, even if there wasn't a formal contract in place he would have been torn to shreds, taking the assistance from the German Fed but not being willing to do the work to pay them back, he'd be called lazy and unprofessional. Aljona would get a lot of sympathy for having had such an ungrateful partner.

In situations like these, sunk cost fallacy is one of the things that often keeps people in abusive professional situations. The longer you're in that kind of toxic work environment it feels harder and harder to turn back since you've already come this far, and there's a defined end date anyway, so you only have to last a little bit longer. If you throw in the towel now, what was all that hard work and suffering you went through even for? Just keep going, you're almost there. Yes he would never have had the career he ended up having without her, and every day he was reminded of that, and not just by Aljona. In these kinds of toxic partnerships, the "lucky" partner is pressured to feel like they need to just take everything because don't they know about all the people who would kill to be in this partnership? You tend to see this more with pair guys, but not because women can't be abusive, but because talented pairs men are in rare supply so their partners will feel like they have to take abuse for the sake of their career, but in this scenario Aljona was the one charitably taking him up the ranks and he just had to follow her lead.

I fail to see how her reputation is his problem, especially given that she's coaching young skaters. If she treats them even a fraction as badly as he treated him, that should be known. Aljona as a skater is one of the greatest of all time. That doesn't mean her actions in pursuit of that are remotely acceptable.

 

[Wyliefan]

Not even the tiniest bit surprised that some of the Aljona defense is coming from the "Eteri never did anything wrong" corner. Abuse defenders gonna defend abuse, regardless of whether it comes from coach or partner.

 

[Miezekatze]

What income did he get from the German federation? I'm surprised they ever had any money to give to ANY skater, I've never heard of something like that before.

 

[canbelto]

For me this situation is not really comparable with an abusive coach/student relationship, cause Aljona was not Brunos coach obviously, but we're talking about 2 adult partners.
They were equal partners from a power balance point of view, not coach-student, not adult-teenager.

Ingo certainly was abusive to Aljona and Bruno (and Mandy) and probably countless others, so basically Aljonas whole career was formed by toxic coaching relationships, which was written down in books, even before Bruno teamed up with her. In comparison to Aljona/Robin/Ingo her partnership with Bruno seemed a huge improvement, at least after they moved to Alexander Koenig, but of course she's a ruthless competitor and a very complicated partner, but from all that Bruno said over the years and how he spoke in the documentary, he's probably not the most uncomplicated partner either. They both sounded "interesting". And if I recall the documentation, they indeed considered quitting at some point.

And no, MsZem, Bruno did not train in Chemnitz before he skated with Aljona, I think that's a mixup. You're probably thinking of Robin?

On paper it was a partnership, but in reality she was the big star who needed to win OGM. I don’t imagine the training environment to have been equal at all.
Also, there were complaints she and Ingo were abusive to Robin. So it’s not like this is coming out of thin air.

 

[kwanfan1818]

And no, MsZem, Bruno did not train in Chemnitz before he skated with Aljona, I think that's a mixup. You're probably thinking of Robin?

According to Wikipedia,

Popova/Massot trained mainly in Caen, France, with Jean-Francois Ballester.[12][14] In their first season together, they also trained about three weeks every three months with Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz, Germany.[15][16]​

​

One citation leads to page not found, but the other (about 2011 French Masters) is here:
https://www.passion-patinage.com/2011/10/09/masters-j3-libre-couple/

Knowing that we are well surrounded: in addition to our trainer, we go to Ingo Steuer from time to time and the choreographers of our programs are Karine Arribert for the short and Pierre-Loup Bouquet for the feature. The collaboration with Pierre-Loup was born this summer: he was trying to master the elements of the couple, because he would like to do galas with a new partner, Zoé Blanc having stopped skating. And in return, he started to give us advice for the choreography, to end up putting together the whole free.

(I couldn't resist the part about Arribert and Bouquet being their (Popova/Massot) choreographers.)

 

[Miezekatze]

According to Wikipedia,

Popova/Massot trained mainly in Caen, France, with Jean-Francois Ballester.[12][14] In their first season together, they also trained about three weeks every three months with Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz, Germany.[15][16]​

​

One citation leads to page not found, but the other (about 2011 French Masters) is here:
https://www.passion-patinage.com/2011/10/09/masters-j3-libre-couple/


(I couldn't resist the part about Arribert and Bouquet being their (Popova/Massot) choreographers.

Ah ok, I didn't know that. In the shocked way Bruno spoke about his experiences with Ingo (and also with Chemnitz) in the documentary, I honestly thought he'd never trained with him before he teamed up with Aljona.

 

[On My Own]

I have a feeling there are 2 sides and we'll never read Savchenko's side where a lazy lad twice her size is close to beating her because she dared to demand he works hard enough.

But being called lazy when you have a lung infection isn't the same as "demanding he work hard enough"...

In comparison to Aljona/Robin/Ingo her partnership with Bruno seemed a huge improvement, at least after they moved to Alexander Koenig, but of course she's a ruthless competitor and a very complicated partner, but from all that Bruno said over the years and how he spoke in the documentary, he's probably not the most uncomplicated partner either. They both sounded "interesting". And if I recall the documentation, they indeed considered quitting at some point.

I have no doubt Massot himself had the drive to achieve an Olympic Gold Medal, and that he wanted to work with Savchenko. And I'm sure he's an interesting character. And maybe he's lashed out at Savchenko and we don't know about it (apart from the "pushed her away" thing).

What I'm not sure about is why some on the thread can't at least express sympathy towards him for what Savchenko DID do to him. What is being taken out of your lives if you just say "What Savchenko did was wrong. Maybe there's more to the story, but we feel sorry for Bruno in the meantime"?

 

[Primorskaya]

Also, lazy? Please. No-one wins an OGM by being lazy, not even if the sun shines out of their partner's arse, which some people here appear to believe. I mean he specifies this happened on a day when he was actually later sent to emergencies with a serious lung infection... Maybe this makes him lazy in cray-cray world, I don't know.

 

[canbelto]

Also, it's totally possible that Aljona had no idea she was upsetting Bruno this much. Maybe screaming, calling partners lazy was typical while training with Robin and Ingo. Maybe Aljona even thinks she eased up on Bruno compared to how she was with Robin. Many abusers don't really know they're abusive.

 

[MsZem]

According to Wikipedia,

Popova/Massot trained mainly in Caen, France, with Jean-Francois Ballester.[12][14] In their first season together, they also trained about three weeks every three months with Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz, Germany.[15][16]​

​

Yes, that's what I was referring to.

I believe Robin skated synchro for a while before he and Aljona teamed up

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

And, I agree that his blaming her for his actions, is very problematic

Lol. What were his actions? Being passive and receiving abuse?

sounds like he had a commitment to go to the 2018 Olympics and he followed through with his commitment and took the abuse along the way. That’s what I got out of the article.

Where I think she really has big b*lls it’s like you’re going to treat him that way and then he has to throw you in the air for a triple twist? If I were her and I know I’m being thrown in the air over a sheet of ice for that element I’d always be like… “So honey your birthday is in three months can I get you anything…”

 

[canbelto]

@rfisher is a huge Eteri stan ... nuff said ...

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Also the fact that Alexa and Chris did an immediate U-turn within like 30 days is very telling. Alexa worshiped her it sounded like ... she would go into her bedroom and watch YouTube videos of her and she was her idol. So they go to Germany and then she’s back within 35 days and they went coachless at skate America

If Alexa ever writes an autobiography man I will be at her very first book signing

 

[MacMadame]

I have no sympathy for Massot.

I'm sure he's crushed to hear that.

So did you go to the press before or after taking it with the professionals and actually seeking help? Or instead?

I don't know about @Vagabond but I talked my situation out and I talked to anyone who would listen and I don't give a crap if this "ruined the reputation" of my abuser. He can just **** off.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the first Nassar victims got attacked, too.

They did. This is documented.

They were equal partners from a power balance point of view, not coach-student, not adult-teenager.

I don't think we can say that. First of all, people didn't talk about them like they were equal partners when they first teamed up. Secondly, you're an adult. Have you always had equal partnerships with everyone you worked with as a colleague? I sure haven't. Some people just have more personal power than others. And she was more experienced and more accomplished.

According to Wikipedia,

Popova/Massot trained mainly in Caen, France, with Jean-Francois Ballester.[12][14] In their first season together, they also trained about three weeks every three months with Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz, Germany.[15][16]​

I'm not sure training 3 weeks out of a quarter in the same rink even with the same coach is enough to really know what it would be like to train with someone full-time. I'm sure he had some idea but sometimes you can't know until you are in the situation and sometimes people ignore red flags.

The thing I found interesting about his story is that he said, if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn't. So it seems like he doesn't think the OGM was worth it in the end. I wonder if the full article gives that same impression.

 

[Quadjump]

Competing with Aljona is super hard to bear without any doubt. Aljona can be furious. You saw it with Robin and Ingo through all the years. The relationship between Aljona und Bruno just seemed to be way more complex compared to what is written in that abstract. He decided to stay with her. Just calling her a tyran is too simple after practicing with her for 4 years every single day.


BTW. Robin and Ingo are working together in Chemnitz. Robin says they only talk about sports - no word about private stuff. It seems to work. Kind of astonishing after all the years.