Farewell of the "Scarlet Empress": figure skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva ended her career

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, the 2015 world champion in figure skating, announced the official end of her sports career. The girl is called the "queen of the triple axel" and the absolute record holder among Russian figure skaters — she competed at 15 Russian championships in a row. About the biography and achievements of the athlete — in the material of Izvestia.

Figure skater Tuktamysheva announced her retirement

Famous figure skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva has completed her professional sports career. The 28-year-old champion announced this while standing on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in St. Petersburg. The farewell was not dramatic — near the water, the "Scarlet Empress", as her fans call her, calmly and gratefully recalled her "little life" spent on the ice.

"There have been so many good things in my career, so many happy moments, that I can say with gratitude: I had a bright career, and I do not regret anything. I announce the end of my sports career without regrets," she said in an interview with Viktor Kravchenko's YouTube channel.

The figure skater emphasized that her career became bright because she was connected with the people who surrounded her throughout the journey.

Why did figure skater Tuktamysheva end her career

Back in 2023, Tuktamysheva said she wanted to take a break to take care of herself, spend time with her loved ones and relax. In the fall of 2024, the athlete announced that she would miss the new competitive season. Later, she shared her plans: she wants to develop in the media, continue performing in ice shows, and is even considering coaching, although she understands that this path will not be easy.

"I didn't have such a strong motivation to continue doing grueling daily workouts. Because, as you know, we are not allowed to participate in international competitions, but for me to have a chance to compete for a ticket to the World or European Championships was a good motivation," the athlete said.

Now Tuktamysheva has practically moved away from sports starts and is focusing on developing her personal brand. She announced the launch of an entertainment project dedicated to figure skating, the Off Ice Show, which premiered in January 2024. Lisa's co-host is world champion and screenwriter Anna Ovcharova.

And in an interview with her colleague Evgenia Medvedeva, Tuktamysheva admitted that a pause in her career allowed her to develop and explore new directions. In particular, she paid attention to improving her speech and was able to raise her level as a sports commentator.

Biography of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

The figure skater was born on December 17, 1996 in the Udmurt city of Glazov. Tuktamysheva's mother is an algebra and geometry teacher, and she was also her daughter's homeroom teacher. The figure skater's father, Sergey Tuktamyshev, is a former skier and coach of the football team. He died in April 2011, when the girl was 14 years old. Lisa's main fan never saw her triumph, but he saw her first victories. Elizabeth has a younger sister, Evgenia, who first studied figure skating, and then switched to ballroom dancing.

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva started skating at the age of five, when she met figure skaters at a summer sports camp where her father worked. Svetlana Veretennikova became her first coach in Glazov.

"I ended up in figure skating "out of friendship." My dad worked at a sports camp and once took me with him. I made friends with the girl skaters there and, in order not to part with them, I also went to train. I joined the group, and for a while I was the smallest and laggard there, but I caught up very quickly," says the figure skater.

Honored coach of Russia Alexey Mishin noticed her at a competition in Belgorod, but at first he did not invite her to his group, considering the girl's technique imperfect. A year later, he saw her again and changed his mind, impressed by her ability to jump high. However, she needed to improve her jumping technique significantly.

Due to the financial difficulties of the family, Tuktamysheva continued to train in Glazov with Veretennikova, but every two weeks she went to visit Mishin in St. Petersburg, where she lived in a dormitory. The trip from Glazov to St. Petersburg took 27 hours. Until the summer of 2011, Lisa spent one or two weeks a month in St. Petersburg, the rest of the time in her hometown. In the fall of 2011, her family moved to St. Petersburg for permanent residence.

In 2020, Tuktamysheva graduated with honors from the country's main sports university, the P. F. Lesgaft National University. In addition, she is a fan of Zenit football club and represents CSKA.

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's sports career

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's career in figure skating was full of ups and downs. From the age of 12, the figure skater performed complex triple jumps, and for this she was nicknamed the prodigy of figure skating. Since 2009, she began to regularly become a prize-winner at various tournaments, but due to her age, she was able to reach the international level only a year later.

At her debut in the adult category, Elizabeth immediately won the Grand Prix stage, her first "adult" performance in Japan brought her gold. At the age of 15, she also competed at her first Youth Olympic Games — and won again.

Further injuries in the 2013/2014 season led to 10th place at the national championships and skipping the Olympics in Sochi — her first attempt to get to the Games was unsuccessful. However, in the 2014/2015 season, she experienced an incredible renaissance, won the Grand Prix final, and also won gold at the European and World Championships.

It is noteworthy that the triple axel became the symbol that defined her entire career. She mastered it at the age of 18, at an age when many people end their sporting lives. And at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, she made a revolution: for the first time at a tournament of this level, a woman performed the triple axel in the short program. Alexey Mishin, her coach since 2011, later compared her role to "the torch of the Statue of Liberty, lighting the way for adult figure skaters to multi-turn jumps."

Despite her brilliant achievements, her main dream — to participate in the Olympics — remained unattainable for a long time: injuries and high competition prevented her. In 2018, Tuktamysheva's place in the national team was taken by the younger Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva.

At the Grand Prix stage in Canada, where Evgenia Medvedeva and Daria Panenkova competed with her, Tuktamysheva confidently beat her rivals and won gold. Her victory was complemented by a striking demonstration number: Lisa took to the ice in the image of a flight attendant under "Toxic" Britney Spears and finished the performance in a bra and miniskirt. The issue had a strong effect and is still being discussed. Anna Shcherbakova, Alena Kostornaya and Alexandra Trusova were announced for the next European Championship, while Tuktamysheva remained in reserve and eventually took fourth place.

During her career, she won gold medals at the World, European and Russian championships, as well as Grand Prix stages (Skate Canada, Cup of China). Her personal bests are 81.53 points in the short program (Finlandia Trophy 2021) and 153.89 points in the free skate (KCHM 2019). The athlete won silver at the 2021 World Championships, beating the favorites, as well as several team medals: gold in 2021, silver in 2015 and bronze in 2019.

At her last Russian championship in December 2022, Tuktamysheva took third place, but after the CAS decision in the Kamila Valieva case, she was promoted to second position.

Tuktamysheva is an anomaly in women's single skating, a sport where careers are measured in one or two seasons, and an 18—year-old athlete is considered a veteran. She competed at 15 Russian championships in a row, an absolute record among Russian figure skaters. She is 28 years old, and she has three full Olympic cycles behind her, although the Olympic Games themselves have remained an unattainable dream. Her style, combining technique and artistry, has become an example for many.

The personal life of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

For five years, she was in a relationship with figure skater Andrey Lazukin, with whom she trained in Alexey Mishin's group, but in February 2020 they broke up.

In early 2024, Tuktamysheva announced a new romantic relationship.