The second stage in a row at the opening ceremony of the stage (at this once in Omsk) will perform, among others, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. And this is on the eve of her own start in the Grand Prix series — in the last days of October the skater must compete in Krasnoyarsk. True, access to the ice at the Grand Prix stage is under threat — on the days of the short program, Lisa is announced in Evgeni Plushenko's show.
This is not a mistake with the poster, as it might seem. The producer of the show, Yana Rudkovskaya, even confirmed to the correspondent with some resentment that they only feature confirmed athletes on their posters. Like, how can you even doubt us.
“What could this mean? First, obviously, Lisa will not perform in Krasnoyarsk. Secondly, it is possible that she will not perform this season at all. That's what sources say, at least.
But what is the reason for the pause, if it is really taken? This, obviously, is not poor health, not an aggravation of an old injury, or even a fear of losing to young competitors due to poor readiness. Lisa is enviably in good health and shape — she proved this with test skates and a performance at the opening of the Grand Prix in Ufa. And this despite the fact that problems with motivation were not just read between the lines throughout the off-season, but were also stated directly by the athlete. She didn’t prepare the short program until recently, and left the free program from last season.
That is, Lisa now finds it easy to skate. She is not in a disassembled state, does not fail her jumps and finishes the program easily, without being out of breath. It turns out that her desire to take a break comes from a position of strength, and not disappointment and fatigue.
Considering the general level of competition, Tuktamysheva in her current state, even without triple axels, would be in the prizes at the stages. This may not be international recognition, but still decent prize money. For most athletes, this is already sufficient motivation. But in Lisa's case, neither the prize money, nor the tangible love of the audience, nor her own attachment to figure skating, apparently, no longer withstand the main questions that she asks herself.
She seems to have lost precisely the meaning of being in the sport. And neither money nor the comfortable following of a proven route can replace this meaning.
Take, for example, Adelia Petrosyan. He and Lisa are separated by 10 years. If we assume that we will not be allowed into the international arena for many more years, Petrosyan has about 10 more years to wait for this joyful event than Tuktamysheva. More chances to wait, more chances to qualify — don’t forget that upon returning to the ISU fold we will have one quota in all events and an insane battle for the right to use this quota.
Tuktamysheva has already devoted 20 years to figure skating. She knows everything about him, she, in fact, is figure skating — its face, from the late 2000s to the roaring twenties. It's not surprising if she wants to live a different life. And right now, and not when the world community allows her to cock the trigger on another Olympic target. And she will hit this target or miss.
Perhaps all of the above is an attempt to explain the existence of wings on a bird through the fact that, on wings, it is easier for it to move between sources of food. But there is another reason — a sublime one. The bird was given wings because it values freedom more than anything else. What is the joy of wings if you can only fly from corner to corner of a cage? Lisa didn’t want to fight against this cage for more than a season.
Last season Lisa still had enough strength to fight for heaven — the feeling of the incompleteness of her personal Olympic story was fresh. There was hope that the geopolitical situation would quickly change, and the new old life would return any minute.
But this did not happen. But isolation from world sports is becoming more and more noticeable and is increasingly perceived as the norm. Tuktamysheva, due to her age and ability to reflect, perhaps perceived everything that was happening more acutely than many others.
Perhaps she simply wanted to leave (for a while) right now, when she was strong and invincible in her own way. There is such a stereotype that the greats leave at the peak, without waiting for everyone to start defeating them.
However, stereotypes are evil. It is unlikely that Lisa, who had been going against the tide all her life, suddenly turned back. In fact, the greats leave when they want. This is exactly what we seem to be seeing now.