Aljona Savchenko

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

The pair split after the 1998 World Junior Championships where they placed 13th.

Her next partner, Stanislav Morozov, was also from club Dynamo Kyiv.

With Morozov, she was the 2000 World Junior champion, the 1999–2000 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a two-time Ukrainian national champion.

In June 2021, Savchenko unretired to pursue her competitive career in the United States.

In September 2021, she announced that, due to having difficulties in the search of a partner, she would be focusing on coaching again.

Aliona Savchenko was born in Obukhiv, near Kyiv, and raised with three brothers.

Her father Valentyn is a former weightlifter.

They were coached by Halyna Kukhar and won the 2000 World Junior Championships, twice won the Ukrainian National title, and placed 15th at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Savchenko's partnership with Morozov dissolved in 2002 because of health issues.

She considered partnering with Anton Nimenko from Russia, however, the Ukrainian skating federation would not fund his move to Kyiv.

She was frustrated by the lack of support for skaters in Ukraine.

Savchenko told a German journalist she was looking for a partner.

He spoke to German coaches and suggested Robin Szolkowy, whom she recognized from a competition.

In May 2003, Savchenko and Szolkowy had a successful tryout in Chemnitz, Germany.

Three months later, she relocated to Germany and the new team began training in earnest with former World champion Ingo Steuer as their coach.

When they first teamed up, they had to adjust to the fact that they had been taught different basics.

Savchenko/Szolkowy worked mostly in Chemnitz, training twice a day, six days a week.

Ingo Steuer served as their coach, choreographer, skate sharpener, and music cutter.

Savchenko designed the pair's costumes.

When the Chemnitz ice rink was melted – generally from the start of April to mid-May – they trained in Dresden if they needed ice time during this period.

In their first season together, Savchenko/Szolkowy won the German national title.

They made their international debut as a team at the start of the 2004–05 season.

They again won the German National pair title, placed fourth at 2005 European Championships and sixth at the 2005 World Championships.

With former partner Robin Szolkowy, she is the 2010 and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time World champion (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), a four-time European champion (2007–2009, 2011), a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2007, 2010, 2011, 2013), and an eight-time German national champion (2004–2009, 2011, 2014).

Savchenko and Szolkowy received the first 10.0 component scores ever given by a judge under the ISU Judging System.

Savchenko originally represented Ukraine with Dmitri Boyenko and later Stanislav Morozov.

In April 2010, Savchenko became godmother to Galina Efremenko's daughter.

In 2014, she worked with the German Red Cross on an aid project for eastern Ukraine.

In April 2015, Savchenko announced her engagement to Liam Cross whom she met at a poker game.

The couple that lives in Oberstdorf married on 18 August 2016.

One of the most decorated pair skaters, she is the 2018 Olympic Champion and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2010, 2014), a six-time World Champion, a four-time European Champion, and a five-time Grand Prix Final champion.

With partner Bruno Massot, she is the 2018 Olympic champion, the 2018 World Champion, a two-time European silver medalist, the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final champion, and a two-time German national champion (2016, 2018).

The pair hold the world record for best free skate score and best total score, and they are the first pair skaters to break 160 points in the free skate.

Their daughter, Amilia Savchenko Cross, was born on 7 September 2019.

Savchenko became interested in figure skating after seeing it on television.

She began skating at age five and practiced with her father on a lake.

She convinced her parents to let her skate at a rink 50 km away, although it required her arriving at a bus stop at four in the morning for a two-hour ride to the rink.

Savchenko turned to pairs at age 13, saying "I saw the other skaters doing it and I wanted to do it myself. I liked all the acrobatic things like lifts and twists and throws."

Savchenko and her first partner, Dmytro Boyenko, were coached by Olexander Artychenko, and represented Ukraine under the auspices of the club Dynamo Kyiv.