Savchenko/Massot — the long program performance at the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy, brought the audience to its feet.
Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot closed out last season in spectacular fashion with a runaway victory at the World Championships in March.
Following the medal ceremony that night, Savchenko and Massot lingered, enjoying the moment to the fullest as they signed autographs and flags for fans, took selfies with spectators, and hugged their partners in life, their parents, relatives and friends who had come from Ukraine, Germany, France and Italy to see them. “I didn’t want to leave the ice after the awards ceremony because it was so wonderful,” Savchenko said.
“I wanted to go back in time and relive everything again because it was so beautiful. We would not have been able to skate that way without all those people.There is such an incredible story behind all this. I am just so happy.”
Massot said the main goal in Milan was to skate a clean short program because “that was missing at the Olympic Games, so it was important for us.”
The French-born athlete explained that, as with the previous season, there was little time to prepare for Worlds. In 2017, Savchenko was recovering from a ligament injury in her right ankle and Massot had aggravated an old back injury. “This time, after the Olympics, first Aljona was sick, then I was sick. Then we had ‘Art on Ice’ in Switzerland — nine shows with two performances a day, so it was not easy,” Massot explained. “But it was fun to skate the Olympic programs one last time at Worlds. The audience in Italy was incredible. It was a great end to a great season.”
Savchenko and Massot, the only Olympic medalists who competed in this discipline in Milan, were hoping to close out their golden career with a win, and it was unlikely that anyone or anything would get in their way. The duo dazzled at the Games and performed even better in front of an arena full of fans in Milan cheering them on to gold.
