After his gold medal in the Pyeongchang pair race with partner Aljona Savchenko, Olympic figure skating champion Bruno Massot (29) has been criticized from his French homeland. There have been many negative comments,”because the medal goes to Germany,”said the Frenchman, who was born in France, to the Welt am Sonntag.
“These are people who are jealous. They say:’ You don’t like your home country’, but I’m not only French, I’m not just German, I’m European. This is a European medal”, Massot, who had been granted German citizenship in November 2017, continued:”I am leaving for Germany because this country, this association accepts me, has believed in me and supported me.”.
The Ukrainian-born Savchenko also stated that she was often asked “how much German there is in this medal”:”Of course we are proud of our home country, my family, my heart remains in the Ukraine. But Germany has given us this opportunity,”said the 34-year-old:”We were not born here, but we are very proud to have won a medal for Germany, because this country, this federation, coach Alexander König and others have only just brought us there.”.