Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

Personal life

Elizaveta Sergeyevna Tuktamysheva (occasionally romanized Tuktamisheva) was born 17 December 1996 in Glazov, Udmurtia, Russia. Her mother teaches algebra and geometry and was her daughter's class teacher from the 5th to 9th grade. Her father, a former skier who later coached soccer, died in April 2011. Her sister, Evgenia, is seven years younger and has also taken up skating. The family moved from Glazov to Saint Petersburg in August 2011.

Early career

Tuktamysheva started skating at the age of four, after meeting girls interested in the sport at a summer camp. Her first coach was Svetlana Veretennikova in Glazov. Alexei Mishin observed Tuktamysheva at a competition in Belgorod but did not invite her into his group, considering her technique too incomplete. A year later he saw her again and changed his mind due to her ability to jump high, but she had to rework the technique on all of her jumps. Since her family could not afford to move to a big city, she remained in Glazov, continuing to train under Veretennikova, but regularly visited Mishin in Saint Petersburg, where she lived in a dormitory. The train journey from Glazov to Saint Petersburg took 27 hours. Until the summer of 2011, she would spend an average of one to two weeks in Saint Petersburg and the rest of the month in Glazov.

Tuktamysheva was called a figure skating prodigy by the Russian media, because at the age of 12 she performed difficult jumps, such as the triple axel in practice, but she did not attempt the triple axel in competition until 2015. In 2008, she placed 10th at the Russian Championships. Mishin was criticized for allowing Tuktamysheva to participate in the senior Russian Championships (2008) at only 11 years old.

In 2009, Tuktamysheva won the silver medal at the Russian Championships, after placing 4th in the short program and first in the free skating. She placed 2nd with a margin of 0.67 points behind champion Adelina Sotnikova, who is half a year older than Tuktamysheva. Mishin said his student was Russia's "main hope for the gold medal at the Sochi Olympics". Despite her medal, she was not sent to any ISU Championships, including Junior Worlds, because she was not old enough according to ISU rules.

At the 2010 Russian Championships, Tuktamysheva was 10th after the short program but earned 124.57 points in the free skate and was able to win a bronze medal. Her technical marks were higher than even those of male competitors, except Evgeni Plushenko. In March, she skated in the Kings on Ice ice show. During the summer, she took part in training camps in Estonia, Italy and Germany in preparation for the new season.

2010–11 season

In the 2010–11 season, Tuktamysheva was old enough to compete in ISU Junior competitions. She won her Junior Grand Prix events in Germany and Romania and qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final. At the Final, she placed second in both programs to win silver behind Adelina Sotnikova. At the 2011 Russian Championships, she placed 7th in the short program and 3rd in the long, to win the bronze medal. She won the Russian Junior Championships by placing first in both programs. At the 2011 World Junior Championships, she won the silver medal behind teammate Adelina Sotnikova.

Tuktamysheva settled with her family in Saint Petersburg in the summer of 2011. In preparation for the new season, she took part in Mishin's training camps in Jaca (Spain), Tartu (Estonia), and Pinzolo (Italy).

2011–12 season

According to ISU age rules, Tuktamysheva was eligible for the senior Grand Prix circuit during the 2011–12 season, although not for senior ISU Championships. She was assigned to two Grand Prix events, the 2011 Skate Canada and 2011 Trophée Éric Bompard. Tuktamysheva replaced the injured Sarah Meier at the Japan Open in October and won the event. Tuktamysheva debuted on the senior Grand Prix circuit at Skate Canada, where she won the gold medal with a combined personal best score of 177.38 points, becoming the youngest champion in the event since Tracey Wainman in 1981. She dedicated the win to her late father. Tuktamysheva then won gold at 2011 Trophée Éric Bompard to qualify for her first senior Grand Prix Final. She is the first ladies' skater to win her senior debut event and to win both events in her senior Grand Prix debut. At the Grand Prix Final, she finished fourth with a combined total of 174.51 points.

At the 2012 Russian Championships, Tuktamysheva was seventh in the short program and fourth in the free skate and finished 6th overall. She then competed at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics and won the gold medal. Tuktamysheva withdrew from the 2012 World Junior Championships in order to prepare for the following season, including working on the triple axel.

2012–13 season

In the summer before the 2012–13 season, Tuktamysheva sustained a knee injury. She was assigned to 2012 Skate Canada and the 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard, entering both events as the defending champion. In October, Mishin said that her participation at Skate Canada was uncertain due to injury and growth issues. Tuktamysheva did compete in Skate Canada, placing sixth in the short program and third in the free skate. She finished 4th overall with a total score of 168.00, just 0.04 less than bronze medalist Kanako Murakami. At the 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard, Tuktamysheva was third in the short program and second in the free skate. She obtained a personal best free skating score, 121.36 points, and won the silver medal ahead of teammate Yulia Lipnitskaya. Tuktamysheva qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Sochi, Russia, where she was 5th in the short program and 2nd in the long, finishing 5th overall. At the 2013 Russian Championships, also held in Sochi, she placed first in the short program but fell ill with a cold before the free skate. Mishin initially indicated that she would withdraw but later she and her team decided she would compete. Tuktamysheva said, "I might find myself in an even worse situation in the future. I have to know how to handle it, so we decided to skate." She finished first in the free skate and won her first senior national title.

At the 2013 European Championships, Tuktamysheva placed fourth in the short program, first in the long program, and won the bronze medal overall. She and silver medalist Adelina Sotnikova were Russia's first medalists in the Europeans ladies' event since Irina Slutskaya won the title in 2006. At the 2013 World Championships, Tuktamysheva was 14th in the short program after falling from a sit spin and singling her double axel. She placed 8th in the long program and finished 10th overall in her Worlds debut. At the 2013 World Team Trophy in Tokyo, she finished 10th individually while Team Russia was 4th overall.

2013–14 season

Tuktamysheva started her season at the 2013 Finlandia Trophy. Placing sixth in the short and second in the free, she won the bronze medal behind Akiko Suzuki and Yulia Lipnitskaya. At the 2013 Skate America, she placed 9th in the short and third in the free, finishing fourth overall with 176.75 points. Despite a back injury, she competed at her next event, the 2013 Rostelecom Cup, and finished fourth behind Mirai Nagasu. After taking the bronze medal at the 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb behind Miki Ando, Tuktamysheva competed as the defending champion at the 2014 Russian Championships. She came in tenth after placing ninth in both segments. On 2 March 2014, she sustained an ankle injury at the Russian Cup Final — the preliminary diagnosis suggested a torn ankle ligament. Although she hoped to resume training at the end of March, her injury took longer to heal and she returned to the ice in mid-June.

2014–15 season

Tuktamysheva began her season by winning her first ISU Challenger Series (CS) event, the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, where she outscored teammate Alena Leonova by almost six points and American Gracie Gold by over ten points. She then won another CS title at the 2014 Finlandia Trophy, defeating American Samantha Cesario by more than 30 points. She also won CS title at the 2014 Warsaw Cup and with these results she later became the winner of the 2014–15 ISU Challenger Series.

Tuktamysheva started her Grand Prix season at the 2014 Skate America; she placed first in the short and second in the free skate, taking the silver medal behind Elena Radionova. At her next event, the 2014 Cup of China, she won the gold medal, beating teammate Yulia Lipnitskaya. The results qualified her to the Grand Prix Final, which she won with a new personal best combined total of 203.58, ahead of Radionova and American Ashley Wagner. At the 2015 Russian Championships, Tuktamysheva placed second in both programs, finishing with the silver behind Radionova. She subsequently won the 2015 European Championship by a slim margin of 0.86, finishing second in the short program and first in the free skate, posting personal bests in both segments.

At the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Tuktamysheva won the short program with a new personal best of 77.62, the third highest short program score under the ISU Judging System. She performed the triple axel for the first time in major competition, becoming the seventh woman to complete the jump and the fourth to do so at the World Championships. She also completed a triple toe-triple toe combination and a triple Lutz, making her the first woman to land four triples in the short program. Tuktamysheva went on to win the free skate with a score of 132.74, for a total of 210.36. She decisively won the event, earning 16.76 points over silver medalist Satoko Miyahara, becoming the third Russian woman to win the World Championships (after Maria Butyrskaya in 1999 and Irina Slutskaya in 2002 and 2005).

After her victory, Tuktamysheva ended her season skating for team Russia at the 2015 World Team Trophy. She placed second in the short program, 0.33 points behind Gracie Gold, earning 11 points. She then won the free program with a score of 134.21 (including a triple axel), winning 12 points, which greatly aided Team Russia in winning the silver medal.

2015–16 season

In the spring of 2015, Tuktamysheva went to Switzerland to work with Stéphane Lambiel on new programs and spent time training with Carolina Kostner while she was there. Lambiel choreographed Peer Gynt, her free program, and I Put a Spell on You, intended as her short program but which she decided to use as her exhibition. Benoît Richaud created her new short program, Carmina Burana.

Tuktamysheva began the 2015–16 season by placing 3rd in the individual competition of Japan Open before winning the gold medal at the 2015 International Cup of Nice. Turning to the Grand Prix series, she won silver at Skate Canada behind Ashley Wagner after placing 7th in the short program but winning the free skate. At the Trophée Éric Bompard in Bordeaux, France, she placed 5th in the short program after falling on a triple Axel. Due to the cancellation of the free skate following the November 2015 Paris attacks, the short program standings were accepted as final. As a result, she finished as the second alternate for the 2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and was unable to defend her title. Tuktamysheva finished first in the 2015–16 ISU Challenger Series standings after winning gold medals at the 2015 Warsaw Cup and at the 2015 Golden Spin of Zagreb with a season's best score of 201.33 points. After the Warsaw Cup, Tuktamysheva decided to switch back to her Boléro short program from the previous season. At the 2016 Russian Championships, she finished 8th after placing 9th in the short and 6th in the free skate. She was named as an alternate for the 2016 European Championships.

Tuktamysheva was invited to the 2016 Team Challenge Cup but withdrew due to an ankle injury.

2016–17 season

Tuktamysheva began her season competing at the 2016 Nebelhorn Trophy where she won the silver medal, after placing first in the short and second in the free skate.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.