How Liza Tuktamysheva refused Evgeni Plushenko and won the Grand Prix in Moscow

What, probably, Liza doesn’t have to read to herself every season, what comparisons and assumptions, facts from the world of figure skating. Here, for example: Maria Butyrskaya finished performing at the age of 30, and Mao Asada, like Irina Slutskaya – at 27, Michelle Kwan – at 26 … We count tirelessly, dig and add facts from the world of figure skating. Her world. And Liza is not just skating on the eve of her 26th birthday (she will be on the eve of the start of the Russian Championship in December), but also continues to amaze. And makes it easy every time.

Alexei Mishin, Lisa’s coach, announced: “The main thing this season is to be yourself, Liza Tuktamysheva.” And this means: to fight, to seek, to find, to smile, to arouse admiration and to get high. And there is no other given. All of the above is Elizabeth’s calling card. And the buzz on ice is her golden business card.

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and 16-year-old Sofya Muravyeva put two axels in three and a half turns in the application for a free program (Liza performed two, Sonya did one), 15-year-old Sonya Akatieva – an axel and two quadruples (three falls), 15-year-old Nastya Zinina – two quads (performed one). Liza, closing the singles program, said she did not know how her rivals performed. But it doesn’t seem like she needs to know that.

Ilya Averbukh this season, without international starts, offered Tuktamysheva to participate in the Ice Age. But Lisa decided that she should be ready to compete in competitions, “you need to take advantage of the opportunity to remain in professional sports while it lasts.” She has been using this opportunity for the second decade.

… After winning the World Championships in Shanghai 2015, one of the foreign journalists, impressed by the ultra-c element shown by Liza with a three and a half turn axel, asked: what else can you offer next, is it really a four-turn sheepskin coat? She said, “It’s possible.” But it was a time when our single skaters had not yet stunned the world with quads.

Then Tuktamysheva explained: “Why do I need a quadruple? This is interesting, this is an element that none of the women have ever done. Japanese Miki Ando jumped quadruple, but – salchow. I always wanted to leave a mark in figure skating. An Olympic medal is a classic, but, for example, Carolina Kostner does not have the gold of the Games, and everyone knows her, and she skates like no one else. She contributed to figure skating. I also want this. I want to develop and develop figure skating – perform a triple axel, try to learn a quadruple sheepskin coat. Nothing is impossible. Especially with my equipment: I am small and, most importantly, my equipment is set up correctly.” In just a few minutes of answering, she laid down the goals and vision of herself in figure skating.

Elizabeth, a child prodigy, a star of starts and a favorite of the stands, has never competed at the Olympics. But she always said that she was not ready to leave at the time of protracted failures or losses. “The most important thought, probably, was only one thing – people have problems much worse. There are misfortunes, people lose relatives, get into accidents. And sports hardships are all temporary, you can survive. Yes, she didn’t make it to the Olympics. It’s not as scary as it might seem.”

She did not argue, but stated: I adequately accept the situation, I have to work and try, especially since the coaches believed in me and did not turn away. “And if they haven’t turned away, do I have the right to give up?” Tuktamysheva did not let them down and, in shock competition, returned to the podium of the World Championship in 2021, having won silver.

“We are a full turn behind Russia.” This was written by Japanese admiring our single skaters. And the Americans, and Canadians, and Italians … The world saw more than a dozen quadruple jumps of singles at the pre-Olympic championship of Russia.

Elizabeth was not afraid to endure several years of the chorus: “it is impossible to fight them, fearless juniors, who own quadruple jumps.” As coach Mishin called for, she did not want to be an ostrich running away and hiding from powerlessness, she did not cover her head with a wing. “We don’t need to close down due to the emergence of young and talented skaters, we need to stick our heads out from under the wing and work.” And – she continued and continues to make her mark on the ice, while we practice comparisons: they say, at the fourth stage of the Russian Grand Prix, she fought with Akatieva, who was just learning to walk when Lisa, being 11 years old, took part in the first Russian championship in 2008.

Can’t fight? Noted. So, as I said after winning the World Championships, you need to do two triple axels in a free program, change the image, return the Biellmann, which has not been for several years, improve the rotation. Work again on the quadruple sheepskin coat, which I showed in Krasnoyarsk at the Russian Championship-2021. Then, left without a reward, Lisa was sure that she had won a “victorious defeat”. She was glad that she took a chance, and although she didn’t skate perfectly, she admitted: “I’m comfortable now, I don’t regret anything.”

And – yes: the day before, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva refused Evgeni Plushenko. She did not perform at his show in Moscow just because of the Russian Grand Prix stage. The choice of the “dish of the day” was made consciously. “At first I planned to skate the Grand Prix, for example, at the beginning of the day, and at the end of the show, but this is impossible, physically very difficult,” Lisa explained a couple of weeks ago.

Tuktamysheva’s wonderful career is growing up with her. “Over time, I just started believing in myself more. I like my expression on the ice. I ride for courage. Emotions are more important than the possible result. I like the process itself.” And this process, by the way, again reached the four-turn jump, which is already successful in training. And ahead – Krasnoyarsk again, the championship of Russia.

After winning the fourth stage of the Grand Prix, Lisa said that because of the fall on the flip, it was not the easiest skate, you always understand in such cases: you can’t make more mistakes. It even seemed that she conveyed the image in a wrong way, and a mistake could spoil the impression. But then emotions went up, the tournament was very interesting, tension was created – who would stand. “This is one of my biggest wins in the last year or two.”