IFS DECEMBER 2017

IFS December 2017

Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot grace our December 2017 cover, the final in a year-long global series. The reigning World silver medalists are aiming to fly higher, faster and further this season and have their eyes set on the greatest prize in sport — an Olympic gold medal in PyeongChang in February 2018.

Few can match the determination and ambition of Aljona Savchenko. Following a successful career with Robin Szolkowy that saw the duo winfive World crowns and two Olympicmedals, Savchenko is once againback in the top echelons of the pairs discipline with partner Bruno Massot.

Preparing for the Olympic season not only means preparing new programs, but also working on the elements and technical content. Savchenko and Massot have been training the quad twist and throw quad Salchow, but both are in a holding pattern for the time being.

“We will grow with the program and always add something. We will look at the situation and assess our bodies. We are planning to do everything we can do and we are practicing the quad throws,” Savchenko said.

Also in this Issue:

Every accomplishment has marked not only a personal victory for Javier Fernández, but also a first in Spanish skating history. Capturing a fifth European title last January elevated him into an elite league.

IFS December 2017

One final drive to an Olympic Winter Games is at hand, and it will be unlike either of the two that preceded it. This time, Patrick Chan believes, it is going to be different, and that is exactly what he wants — to be free of all the external expectations that burdened his journeys to Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.

The seven-event Junior Grand Prix Series, which began in late August in Brisbane, Australia, concluded in Egna, Italy on Oct. 14. Each and every one of the stops of this Series was an eye-opener, with talented young skaters executing difficult elements and sophisticated choreography that would rival many in the senior ranks.