The future of Bruno Massot

[judgejudy27]

I think Aliona has mentioned she wants to go to Worlds and I am sure she wants a World title with this pair. They probably will go atleast 1 more year to try for a European title too. I could see her perhaps going to 2020 as I am sure many people want to end their career with Worlds in Montreal which will be an awesome and exciting event.

I think it is unlikely (although with goddess Aliona never say never) they would go to 2022 though. If Aliona stops competing amateur sometime before 2022 what does Bruno do? Does he go pro with her, or does he continue amateur with another partner. I am sure with his improvements and success he will be in high demand, who are some potential partners for him if he wants to continue to 2022 or beyond in amateur skating, and Aliona does not?

 

[Spun Silver]

It's a little premature to talk about Bruno without Aljona IMHO.

 

[blue_idealist]

After skating with Aliona, will he really want to skate with a more 'average' skater? Will anything after her seem anticlimatic?

 

[lala]

What a skating! Congrats to them!!

 

[caseyedwards]

Massot is totally kazakova! He is done because she is done.

 

[triple_toe]

Let's be honest, that team was about Aliona. Not to make light of Bruno's achievements and incredible hard work and progress, but without her calling him up and asking for a try out he would have been nowhere near the Olympic podium. I can't image he would continue with anyone else and why would he want to? He's the luckiest pair guy in the world, being able to partner someone of Aliona's calibre.

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Yes, and S/M coming together was so productive in the end, with so many ups and downs. I'm happy for Bruno and Aliona. Bruno learned and adapted very well. Plus he brought ideas to the partnership too. Bruno bowed in gratitude and respect for Aliona after the program. They gave it their all and they deserved to win Olympic gold. It took a few seconds for it all to fully sink in for Aliona.

I'm somewhat sad for Robin, but he really wanted to retire -- he said his body had enough. I think Robin has found satisfaction in coaching, and deep in his heart he must be happy for Aliona. Wherever Ingo is, he must be happy for Aliona too, however bitter their parting.

 

[DannyCurry]

If Aliona stops competing amateur sometime before 2022 what does Bruno do?

Aside from touring with Aliona, getting into the adult film industry would be a good option.

 

[supergirl573]

He said he was thinking about retiring.

 

[princeton123]

Doesn't Massot have a bad back? I think he'll retire with Aliona and make lots of money doing shows.

 

[text_skate]

On German TV Daniel Weiss said at Euros, and again today, that Aliona would like to skate for a couple of years, but Bruno wants to retire (after Worlds), because of his bad back. Hopes are, he'll think about it.

I guess, now, with OGM, both will need some time to think and listen to their bodies and minds. We will see. I hope they'll go to Worlds. I wouldn't mind seeing them for at least a season or two with more beautiful programs

 

[annie_mg]

They said they will go to Worlds. Aljona didn't just continue for Olympic gold (though that motivation obviously helped), she has stated over and over again that she loves what she does and she loves competing. Bruno had the Olympics in mind but he might not have her drive.

Honestly very few athletes continue after having won gold at the Olympics, with V/M being a very recent exception.

 

[Amantide]

Backpain is a pain in the ass, and boy does that hurt.

Wherever Ingo is, he must be happy for Aliona too, however bitter their parting.

Where is he by the way? We don't know what's he doing? I thought he was in the USA, coaching?

Honestly very few athletes continue after having won gold at the Olympics, with V/M being a very recent exception.

Well, even V&M this last time came back only to win the Gold here. They really want that second gold.

 

[judgejudy27]

Thanks all for your comments. It sounds like if anything he is more anxious to retire than she is, so I guess my suggestion of another partner with him continuing amateur is totally out! I hope they skate a couple more seasons, and then go pro (would love to see them even go for 2022 but I doubt that). They could have an amazing show and touring career together if Aliona is willing to go that route eventually.

 

[millyskate]

To all those suggesting that the partnering is all about her, I guess it's pointless to point out that Aljona needed to find a partner of his caliber in order to finally win the OGM. To me they're a great partnership, and I feel that if they'd been together from the start, people wouldn't be having these types of thoughts.

They have the best triple twist in the biz because of him being that strong - and despite being that big and strong, managing to landing two different triples. And being able to lay it down when it counts, as he has consistently done since the beginning of their pairing. They medalled in their 1st Worlds outing, and then again the next year. They've won the GPF and the OGM against the toughest pairs field the sport has ever known. Bruno is a pretty amazing pairs skater, who had never had the opportunity to skate with a partner capable of bringing the best out of him. Their LP this year was a stunning program, and he interpreted it fantastically.

Aljona is a superstar, but there's a reason she phoned him Bruno could do incredibly well with another partner, but he does suffer with his back quite a lot afaik. So carrying on may not be an option.

ETA: I'd totally forgotten this amazing lift he used to do with Popova. https://youtu.be/2QIujQ-EcNM?t=227 That turn at the end of an already long lift is pretty insane.
His twist with Popova is also pretty He is just oustandingly strong.

 

[triple_toe]

^ Of course there's a reason she phoned him, of course he has to be massively talented to keep up with her, of course it's not all Aljona. But she has had significant success without him and it's conceivable that she would have at least come close to the same result with someone else. She has several world and Olympic medals to prove that. It's much more difficult to image that Bruno could have reached the Olympic podium with another skater and he's certainly had nothing like the same level of success with other partners. It's not a coincidence that his results shot up drastically as soon as he partnered with Aljona.

He had to rise to her level and that's amazing and admirable. But she's the one who set the level in the first place.

 

[millyskate]

^ Of course there's a reason she phoned him, of course he has to be massively talented to keep up with her, of course it's not all Aljona. But she has had significant success without him and it's conceivable that she would have at least come close to the same result with someone else. She has several world and Olympic medals to prove that. It's much more difficult to image that Bruno could have reached the Olympic podium with another skater and he's certainly had nothing like the same level of success with other partners. It's not a coincidence that his results shot up drastically as soon as he partnered with Aljona.

He had to rise to her level and that's amazing and admirable. But she's the one who set the level in the first place.

Definitely - they did bring out the best in each other though. And I think that if Bruno had been skating with Wenjing Sui, or Meagan Duhamel, or Evgenia Tarasova, Bruno would have done pretty awesome. I think it's a little unfair to judge him by his past record when he just never had the opportunity of skating with a partner capable of landing triples in competition up until that point.

It's pretty ironic that apparently, this partnership is all Eric Radford's fault
https://youtu.be/E9vRdcM3waQ?t=40

 

[Diane Mars]

@millyskate : I went here to post the same, but with another url : https://ru-clip.com/video/E9vRdcM3w...uno-massot-at-eissportzentrum-oberstdorf.html !

 

[Nmsis]

^ Of course there's a reason she phoned him, of course he has to be massively talented to keep up with her, of course it's not all Aljona. But she has had significant success without him and it's conceivable that she would have at least come close to the same result with someone else. She has several world and Olympic medals to prove that. It's much more difficult to image that Bruno could have reached the Olympic podium with another skater and he's certainly had nothing like the same level of success with other partners. It's not a coincidence that his results shot up drastically as soon as he partnered with Aljona.

He had to rise to her level and that's amazing and admirable. But she's the one who set the level in the first place.

True.
I'll add that it's not "just her". It's also the professional pair training environment surrounding her that did a great deal of good to Bruno.
All the french couples I've ever seen interview from have always explained that there is no culture of pair in France.
Not just the technique but the place and responsability of each partner, the partnership.
I've seen several french pairs telling that they had no clue about security in pair or responsability of the male partner toward his partner in case of a fall until they had trained abroad, especially in Canada.
Ie girls don't feel secure and boys don't get why ...... .
Bruno's coach, Jean-François Ballester, competed as a pair skater and that's him who oriented Bruno toward pair skating. But he's the product of a non pair-friendly system.
Unlike James / Ciprès in Paris, he trained Bruno and his ex-partners in Caen well in pair elements (spins, twist, lifts, throws), but there still was this feeling that those couples were not really a pair but 2 individual skaters.

Placed in an environnement that is doing professional pair training, french skaters do progress leaps and bounds.
Had Bruno trained in this kind of environnement sooner, he may have been kind of "worthy" of Aliona from the start of their partnership. But like Vanessa and Morgan, he's only playing catch-up late in his career. And with Aliona, that's a big catch-up to achieve.

 

[clairecloutier]

Not only did Aliona bring more professional pairs knowledge/coaching to Bruno, she also brought her creativity and her knowledge of the artistic/choreographic process. Aliona knew what is expected choreographically from a top team, and how to create those kinds of programs. She knew who to work with. (I doubt that Bruno/Popova would have had the opportunity or savvy to work with people like Christopher Dean and John Kerr.) All this was important in helping her and Bruno achieve a high level very quickly.

 

[judgejudy27]

It is silly to say Bruno not getting good results with Popova is proof he is only doing well due to Aliona. With all due respect Popova is not a good international level pairs skater, just look at her results with her new partner after she left Bruno. Bruno is the only reason a skater like that who cant even land a double lutz most of the time got to the international level at all. Sergei Grinkov could partner her and they wouldnt win international medals.

As someone else said if Bruno was partnering any truly elite pairs female he would likely be contending for medals.

I am also tired of reading how much weaker he supposably is than Robin. Dont get me wrong Robin is an excellent skater of course, but whoever she skates with Aliona will be the star. While Robin is stronger in some areas like basic skating strength he is actually inferior in some ways to Bruno. Bruno is way better at the twist for instance, just look at the triple twist of Savchenko & Massot compared to Savchenko & Szolkowy, you cant even compare the two. He is more consistent in side by side jumps, and has better timing and unision on both jumps and spins with Aliona than Robin did. He is just as strong in lifts and throws and the throw triple axel attempts of S&M are better than the competitive ones S&S ever had. Aliona if anything has declined in her ability to do throws consistently with age which cost them the European and World titles last year when she messed up all the throws, making Bruno's performance there even more impressive.

Of course he is lucky to skate with a goddess like Aliona, but she also picked him for a reason, and it was a good choice on her part.

 

[millyskate]

Not only did Aliona bring more professional pairs knowledge/coaching to Bruno, she also brought her creativity and her knowledge of the artistic/choreographic process. Aliona knew what is expected choreographically from a top team, and how to create those kinds of programs. She knew who to work with. (I doubt that Bruno/Popova would have had the opportunity or savvy to work with people like Christopher Dean and John Kerr.) All this was important in helping her and Bruno achieve a high level very quickly.

Yes - it was interesting listening to some of the interviews to discover that the reason Aljona new Bruno was good was that he and Daria used to go and train with Ingo Steuer sometimes.

Also, they mention once Bruno Massot taught Aljona and Robin a lift, and Aljona tried it with Bruno and thought why don't I have a partner with whom it's this easy

I always used to be so frustrated for Bruno that he didn't have a partner to match his abilities. But looking through old vids, I find it remarkable he persevered and kept his skill-set up all these years, when there appeared to be no hope whatsoever. Even from the first interview, just when he's split from Popova, he mentions he'd always been shooting for those international medals and couldn't miss the chance to try.
Pretty short-sighted of the French Fed not to try and find a partner for him, but I'm glad it turned out so well in the end. Clearly, it was meant to be.

With Letscher and Foucher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xb0zYGRlg0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDonn1H2sNI

 

[judgejudy27]

Massot had a beautiful message on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/bruno.massot.31/posts/10156144489342200?pnref=story