Romain Hagenauer on the Lajoie/Lagha split: "They were like brother and sister, and they were a bit stuck in that pattern"

“When I arrived in Montreal almost 13 years ago, Marjorie and Zach were not a team anymore. They were skating with different partners. They had had a career together in novice and pre-novice in Canada, but they split. Marjori was skating in another school and Zach contacted us wanting to skate by himself, not even looking for a new partner. As far as I know it was some stupid reason for split - they were children at that time and very much was decided by their parents.

Then Marjorie contacted us - she wanted to skate with us. And so they got back together with Zach. They have had a great career since then - it was successful in junior, very promising, very good, and even in senior — but it was sometimes a challenge.

They are very, very different. Sometimes that's a good thing, but at some point you need to find yourself as a team, especially when you become mature. We as coaches and choreographers can do a lot, but at some point you need to connect. You need to have a direction, especially an artistic vision. And that connection was sometimes a challenge between the two of them. Even though there was zero problem between them personally, it was sometimes tricky. I remember when they were juniors, sometimes when they were warming up for a competition, there was always like one kilometer between the two of them. They were very independent, which is a good thing, but sometimes it was too obvious.

We worked a lot the past season to connect them, on ice and off ice too, but it was a bit of a challenge because of their personalities. Zach is independent, Marjorie also — it was a bit of side-by-side work. The body of work improved a lot, of course. But the last two seasons it was not easy for us to find agreement on the music, to find ideas, new things. For them to be in one direction was always difficult.

I think now they are becoming adults and they realize it. From the last season I had expressed personally that for me it was not working the way it should to reach the goals they wanted to achieve. I couldn't help them anymore to find themselves, as I had been doing for ten years. It's not like I rejected them, but Marie-France took over a bit. We are a big team of coaches here, and it was totally fine. But at the end of the day they were absolutely not happy with how the season went.

I think they both realized they were not aligned — artistically, in the way they connect, in their vision. The connection was never really there, even though they are good friends. On the ice, artistically, Zach has an opinion of how they should be, Marjorie had another one. They grew in different directions a little bit. They are very different characters and it worked, but at some point you need to find yourself in your difference, but with a common goal. And I think it was tough to realize that.

This season they could not make it happen. They finally realized something was not going well.

So they considered finding new partners. There was also discussion about changing school, because sometimes that could be a refresh. It was in the discussion, and we of course always agree to work for the best of everyone. But they realized that so far it was not the problem at all. They took the common decision to explore different options, and here we are.

It's a bit sad, because of course it's 15 years of partnership. They could have kept going, especially after this cycle — there are a lot of teams in front of them that are retiring. At the end, I personally did not necessarily agree with the split, but I agree with the realization that something was not going well in the dynamic to improve. It was nothing about behavior - they were always respectful. I think they really love each other. Work ethic was good, nothing with discipline — we don't tolerate anything less. It's just the vision of the team, what they want to express, the connection, the maturity. They are becoming mature, but they were never able to showcase that on the ice. We couldn't find the solution.

They are aware of the risk, of course — that in their new partnerships it could be not as good or even they may not succeed. But I think they are willing to take that risk. They have done so much together that they want to take the chance to go separately. It's their right, and I can understand that.

It's a bit sad that it finished with a split, but it could be for the best. There is also the personal desire to explore. Things between them at a certain point became very… automatic. Maybe I speak for them, but I don't think they gave each other the fire to explore new things. It was really going in an automatic way, and me personally, I was not very happy with that.

I think it's good now. They are facing individually their choice, their career. They did great programs, they had a great career. But now it stopped there. It's a new challenge in front of both of them. They are two excellent skaters, still very young, and there are opportunities for them to find someone who can match them at a new level. They can explore the options and develop a different relationship. They were like a brother and sister, and they were a bit stuck in that pattern.

When you are the closest to the top, that's when it becomes the furthest. The last step is always the biggest. We couldn't find solutions for them as a team. I know they had open discussions, and basically they both agreed on what to do. I think they are very happy to move forward and very happy with what they have done and accomplished. They throw the dice to find themselves better in the sport, and to gain some pleasure, new experiences, new feelings”.