pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

Aljona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko ( uk, Олена Валентинівна Савченко, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a Ukrainian-born German pair ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involve ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000, On 15 April 2015, he announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend, Sophie Levaufre. Their son, Louka, was born on 1 October 2018 in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city ...

, Switzerland. On 23 November 2017, the

Deutsche Eislauf-Union The German Ice Skating Union (german: Deutsche Eislauf-Union, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals cann ...

announced that Massot would be sworn in as a German citizen in a week.

Career

Early career

Massot began learning to skate in 1996. From the age of seven, he was coached by Jean-François Ballester. He competed in

single skating Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport contested ...

through the 2006–07 season. When he was 17 years old, Ballester convinced him to try

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. Massot teamed up with Camille Foucher, with whom he won a pair of senior bronze medals at the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

and competed at two World Junior Championships. After their partnership ended, he skated with Anne-Laure Letscher until February 2011. Massot and Daria Popova decided to team up in March 2011 and began serious training in June.

2011–2012 season

Popova/Massot trained mainly in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Jean-Francois Ballester. In their first season together, they also trained about three weeks every three months with

Ingo Steuer Ingo Steuer (born 1 November 1966) is a German pair skater and skating coach. With Mandy Wötzel, he is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1997 World champion, the 1995 European champion, and a four-time German national champion. As a c ...

in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...

, Germany. Popova/Massot's first competition together was the 2011

Master's de Patinage The Master's de Patinage is an annual figure skating test figure skating competition, competition held in September in Villard de Lans, France. Skaters compete in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ...

, where they won the silver medal. They were tenth in their international debut at the 2011 Coupe de Nice and placed fourth at the

2011 NRW Trophy The 2011 NRW Trophy was an international figure skating competition during the 2011–2012 season. An annual event organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eislauf Union and the Intern ...

. In December 2011, they won the 2012 French national title ahead of

Vanessa James Vanessa James (born 27 September 1987) is a Canadian retired pair skater. Representing France with her former skating partner, Morgan Ciprès, she is the 2019 European Champion, the 2018 World bronze medallist, the 2017 European bronze meda ...

/

Morgan Cipres Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer) ...

. Visa and administrative delays led to uncertainty about their participation at the 2012 European Championships but the situation was resolved just before the event. Popova/Massot placed sixth in the short program and eighth overall. They were not assigned to the 2012 World Championships, but were part of the French team for the

World Team Trophy The ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating is a figure skating team competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. The World Team Trophy was held for the first time in Tokyo, Japan from April 16 to 19, 2009. Traditionally, the competit ...

.

2012–2013 season

Popova/Massot received two

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

assignments — they placed fifth at the

2012 Skate Canada International The 2012 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario on October 26–2 ...

and seventh at the

2012 Trophée Eric Bompard 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. They were second to James/Cipres at the French Championships and then placed seventh at the 2013 European Championships. At the 2013 World Championships, James/Cipres earned two spots for France in the pairs' event at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympi ...

in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents i ...

. As France's second-ranked pair, Popova/Massot were in line to receive the second Olympic spot if she received French citizenship in time.

2013–2014 season

Popova had a problem with the sole of one of her boots at the start of the season. She and Massot placed eighth at their first Grand Prix assignment, the

2013 Cup of China The 2013 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on November 1–3. Medals were ...

. Popova then ceased training for six weeks due to a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in the

third metatarsal bone The third metatarsal bone is a long bone in the foot. It is the second longest metatarsal. The longest being the second metatarsal. The third metatarsal is analogous to the third metacarpal bone in the hand As the four other metatarsals bones it ...

of her left foot, causing the pair to withdraw from the 2013 Trophée Eric Bompard and

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

. Having resumed training in mid-December 2013, the pair elected to reduce the difficulty of some elements for the 2014 European Championships in January. They finished eleventh at Europeans in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

. On 21 January 2014, it was reported that Popova had not received French citizenship in time and France's second spot would be transferred to Austria. Popova and Massot then went on to place fifteenth at the

2014 World Figure Skating Championships The 2014 World Figure Skating Championships was an international figure skating competition held in Saitama, Japan, at the Saitama Super Arena from March 24 to 30. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair ...

after placing fifteenth in both segments of the competition. It was their last competition together.

Teaming up with Savchenko and obtaining his release

On 19 March 2014, Massot was reported to have teamed up with

Aljona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko ( uk, Олена Валентинівна Савченко, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a Ukrainian-born German pair ...

of Germany. The two began training together in April, working to adjust to each other's different technique. They made their first appearance as a pair at the 2014

All That Skate All That Skate is a figure skating show produced by All That Sports (AT Sports), a sports agency based on Seoul, South Korea set up by 2010 Winter Olympic champion Kim Yuna and her mother Park Mi-hee. 2019 All That Skate The All That Skate 2019 ...

shows in South Korea. Because Chemnitz melted its ice rink until nearly the end of August, they trained in

Coral Springs, Florida Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 134,394. It is a ...

for two months beginning in mid-July. Since the ISU does not allow any pairing to compete under two flags, one partner was obliged to change country and could not compete internationally until the previous country granted a release. In July 2014, Savchenko said that she preferred to continue competing for Germany while Massot preferred France. On 29 September 2014, the

Deutsche Eislauf-Union The German Ice Skating Union (german: Deutsche Eislauf-Union, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals cann ...

announced that the pair had decided to skate for Germany. In October 2014, Savchenko/Massot started training in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, coached by

Alexander König Alexander König (born 23 August 1966) is a German figure skating coach and former competitor. Competing in pairs with Peggy Schwarz, he became the 1988 European bronze medalist and placed seventh at three Winter Olympics. As a single skater, he ...

. On 9 June 2015, Massot's mother announced that the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace (FFSG) had refused to release Massot to skate for Germany. He was not allowed to compete or perform in shows until the FFSG released him. Consequently, he lived on 200 euros a month for one and a half years. He considered living in his car but the Deutsche Eislauf-Union stepped in with financial assistance to cover his rent, food, and training expenses, and to find some furniture. On 31 August 2015, the FFSG reportedly demanded a fee of 70,000

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...

to release Massot, but later agreed to 30,000 euros. He was released to skate for Germany on 26 October 2015.

2015–2016 season

Savchenko/Massot made their debut at the

2015 CS Tallinn Trophy The 2015 Tallinn Trophy was an international figure skating competition held in November 2015 at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia. Its senior-level event was part of the 2015–16 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disc ...

, an

ISU Challenger Series The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...

(CS) event, where they won the gold medal. That was followed by gold at the

2015 CS Warsaw Cup The 2015 Warsaw Cup was a senior international figure skating competition held in November 2015 in Warsaw, Poland. It was part of the 2015–16 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair ...

and German Championships. In January, they won silver at the 2016 European Championships in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

, Slovakia. It was Massot's first medal at an ISU Championship. In April, they won the bronze medal at the 2016 World Championships in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, having placed fourth in the short program and third in the free skate.

2016–2017 season

After taking gold at the 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Savchenko/Massot won both of their Grand Prix events, the

2016 Rostelecom Cup The 2016 Rostelecom Cup was the third event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Megasport Arena in Moscow on November 4–5. Medals were awar ...

and

2016 Trophée de France The 2016 Trophée de France was the fourth event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on November 11–13. Medals w ...

. On 12 November, Savchenko tore a ligament in her right ankle on the landing of the throw triple Axel during the free skate in France. She decided to continue skating due to the possibility of a medal and being in a partnership, saying "If you were alone you might just throw in the towel, but there is that other half of the pair, who is also competing." She stated, "Luckily, the ligaments were not completely ruptured, but it takes eight to twelve weeks to heal." As a result, the pair withdrew from their December competitions, the

Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (formerly Champions Series Final), often shortened to ''Grand Prix Final'' and abbreviated as ''GPF'', is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Medals are awarded in men's singles, ladies' ...

and German Championships. In January 2017, Savchenko/Massot won the silver medal, behind Russia's

Evgenia Tarasova Evgenia Maksimovna Tarasova (russian: Евгения Максимовна Тарасова; born 17 December 1994) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Vladimir Morozov, she is the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World medalist (20 ...

/ Vladimir Morozov, at the 2017 European Championships in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

, Czech Republic. In April, the pair received the silver medal, behind China's

Sui Wenjing Sui Wenjing (; born 18 July 1995) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Han Cong, she is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silver medalist (2015, 2016, 2 ...

/

Han Cong Han Cong (pronounced "Han Tsong") (; born 6 August 1992) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Sui Wenjing, he is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world sil ...

, at the 2017 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland.

2017–2018 season

Savchenko/Massot began their season with silver at the

2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was a senior international figure skating competition held in September 2017 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2017–18 ISU Challenger Series. It also served as the final qualification event for the 2018 W ...

. Turning to the Grand Prix series, they took silver at the 2017 Skate Canada International after placing first in the short program and second in the free skate. Ranked third in the short and first in the free, the pair won gold at the

2017 Skate America The 2017 Skate America was the sixth event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Lake Placid, New York on November 24–26. Medals were awarded in th ...

. Their results qualified them to the

Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (formerly Champions Series Final), often shortened to ''Grand Prix Final'' and abbreviated as ''GPF'', is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Medals are awarded in men's singles, ladies' ...

in December, which they won. In November 2017, Massot received German citizenship, allowing the pair to compete for Germany at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...

. Savchenko and Massot withdrew from the

European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European champion. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, an ...

on 12 January, in order to focus their preparations for the Olympics. After competing in the first part of the team event, Savchenko and Massot competed in the individual pairs event. They placed fourth in the short program after Massot doubled a jump. On 15 February 2018, Savchenko and Massot won the gold medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...

, with a new world record score of 159.31 in the free skate. Savchenko and Massot ended the season at the 2018 World Championships in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where they won their first world title together. They set new personal bests in both the short and free programs, in the process setting new world records for the free skate and combined score. Massot commented: "It was exactly the season that we wanted. We started this season in September and we said, 'we will give our best to win everything.' We didn’t go to Europeans in order to prepare for the Olympics. I think it was a good choice. We realized today that we reached our goal of the season today." Following their World Championship victory, it was announced that the pair would take an indefinite break from competition.

Coaching career

In the summer of 2018, Massot joined the coaching staff for the Austrian pairs team of

Miriam Ziegler Miriam Ziegler (born 19 March 1994) is a retired Austrian pair skater. With her skating partner, Severin Kiefer, she is a seven-time Austrian national champion (2014–16, 2018, 2020–22) and represented Austria at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Wint ...

and

Severin Kiefer Severin Kiefer (born 11 October 1990) is a retired Austrian figure skater. He is a ten-time Austrian national pairs champion (2011–13 with Stina Martini; 2014–2016, 2018, and 2020–22 with Miriam Ziegler) and a three-time national bronze m ...

.

Programs

With Savchenko

With Popova

With Foucher

Single skating

Competitive highlights

''GP:

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

; CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

''

With Savchenko for Germany

With Popova for France

With Foucher and Letscher for France

Singles career for France

Detailed results

''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.''

With Savchenko

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Massot, Bruno 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Caen German male pair skaters French male pair skaters French male single skaters Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of Germany French emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in figure skating Season-end world number one figure skaters Season's world number one figure skaters European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Figure Skating Championships medalists French figure skating coaches

Personal life

Career

Early career

2011–2012 season

2012–2013 season

2013–2014 season

Teaming up with Savchenko and obtaining his release

2015–2016 season

2016–2017 season

2017–2018 season

Coaching career

Programs

With Savchenko

With Popova

With Foucher

Single skating

Competitive highlights

With Savchenko for Germany

With Popova for France

With Foucher and Letscher for France

Singles career for France

Detailed results

With Savchenko

References

External links