Savchenko leaves Chemnitz: Dispute and toxic atmosphere in the club!

Savchenko leaves Chemnitz: Dispute and toxic atmosphere in the club!

Chemnitz. A dramatic setback for figure skating! Aljona Savchenko, the celebrated Olympic champion in the pair run, gave up her coaching job at the Chemnitz ice skating club after just one year. The 40-year-old terminated her contract in August, and the reasons are explosive!

The club chairman Stephanie Schneider makes serious accusations against Savchenko. She accuses the trainer of violating her workers' duties and prefering private training hours for club training. "With her termination, Aljona has decreased something because she violated employee obligations such as working time recording," explains Schneider. But Savchenko counters: she speaks of a "toxic atmosphere" in the club that made it impossible for her to realize her visions.

Streit and bullying in the association

The former world-class athlete, who only returned to Chemnitz in March 2023 to train the offspring with her long-time partner Robin Szolkowy, did not feel supported in the club. "I was systematically bullied in the club," explains Savchenko. Her return should be a revival of the ice skating tradition in Chemnitz, but instead she was faced with "many construction sites" that went beyond the urgently needed hall.

Szolkowy, who continues to work as a trainer in the club, regrets the brief cooperation and criticizes the strict system specifications that make cooperation with talented trainers difficult. "The possibilities that we primarily bring with our names, but also as a team of coaches were one size too big for Chemnitz," he says. While Szolkowy remains in the club, Savchenko is now moving back into the world, where she looks after talents on the ice.