11:11 Waves Blog 30: Passion

Every Monday, I share 1 question for you to contemplate, 1 idea from me, 1 quote from others, and 1 inspiration for us.

This week’s topic is: Passion

I always wanted to write an article about my favourite figure skater – so this week is the week.

The world (and I) discovered her when, as a fourteen years-old “jumping bean” (as people described her then) she came out of nowhere to win Skate Canada International 2011. At the end of her Free Program, the Eurosport commentator enthusiastically screamed: "Remember her name: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva!" I was immediately so impressed by her crisp technique and fighting spirit and captivated by her charisma and personality. For the last 12 years, I followed the Empress (how she is called now) with dedication and felt continuously inspired by her resilience, positive attitude, authenticity, courage and deep passion for her work.

One Question for you

Elizaveta’s journey so far has been filled with many ups and downs: triumphs, injuries, come back stories, rejections, doubts, wins and failures. Despite it all, she always kept going and moved forward. Throughout 16 different seasons, she competed in 63 international competitions and 19 national championships and never finished off the top 10. Her secret? Her passion for the sport.

Disclaimer: I do not own this picture. This image and copyright belong to its original owner.

Discuss the question here.

One Idea from me

Elizaveta is an athlete like no other. Her long career is distinguished for her consistency and longevity, especially in contrast with the high turnover of skaters in her era. Elizaveta changed the landscape of figure skating with her presence, humour, kindness and determination. This week I share with you some of her inspiring leadership lessons and wisdom:

Start with yourself and love what you do: Elizaveta loves to skate, train, create new programs, compete and push herself and is a shining example of trusting what she loves and trusting her sincerity about it. Few years ago, when asked by a journalist: “When creating a program, are you more focused on the audience or on the judges?” Elizaveta responded: “First of all, I focus on myself. When an athlete is connected, comfortable and loves their program and they skate with their hearts, it evokes emotions that connect with both the audience and judges - to be successful start with yourself. When you genuinely love something, when you love what you do, it’s so easy to not stop, to simply continue.” Elizaveta’s passion for figure skating is the energy that keeps her going and is the powerful force that keeps her filled with meaning.

Continuous improvement: Throughout her career, Elizaveta continues to consistently improve herself, her skills, her elements, her mindset. In 2015, Elizaveta re-introduced the Triple Axel in the women’s field and inspired a new generation of athletes. Over the years, she fortified her strengths, humbly identified her areas for development and mastered the art of continuous improvement by enhancing spins, introducing new combinations and pushing her transitions to the next level. In 2021 she said: “Six years ago I did the triple axel in competition for the first time. Today I did it better.” All these small regular improvements added up to remarkable performances.

Collaboration and transparency: In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic the world stopped and ice rinks closed. Elizaveta decided to start a project with choreographer Yury Smekalov and launched an Instagram challenge showing the detailed process of program making, with followers giving remarks on Elizaveta’s routine and feedback being integrated in the final choreography. About this collaborative process Elizaveta said: “In figure skating, it is customary to try to hide everything, not to reveal what kind of program there will be next season, what kind of music, what costumes etc.” And here everything was open for the public, and not only that, the audience could take part in the process”. Elizaveta made the best out of an unprecedented situation, modelled openness and transparency and trusted the wisdom of the crowds to co-develop a program that led her to win a silver medal at the Worlds in 2021.

Repetition leads to confidence: In 2015 Elizaveta came back from a disastrous season where she failed to qualify for the Olympic Games, despite being considered the main hope for the gold medal. To come back from the worst season of her career (until that point) and dominate every competition she entered, including the World Championships, requires strength, focus, trust and confidence. That confidence was regained by repetition. That year, Elizaveta attended a high number of competitions (way more than any other elite athlete) where she had the opportunity to repeat and consolidate her programs, shake off all her doubts, reclaim her confidence and love for the sport.

Humour, simplicity and bigger picture: Elizaveta is known to be a very lighthearted and fun individual. In her social media accounts, she often shares jokes and makes fun of herself and her skating. Her cheerful attitude helped her to overcome many difficult situations (like missing the Olympics three times) and spark new motivation. Elizaveta speaks often about the importance of maintaining a balanced approach to skating and simplifying things: “If you drop some burden off yourself and go into the rink with a simpler attitude, it’s always easier and more effective”. She also remembers that it’s important to keep things into perspective, focus on herself not the competitors and don’t let her career become her whole identity: “Since I was a teenager, I understood that there is another life – I would have broken if I had thought that figure skating is all my life”.

Blossoming because of the right conditions: Elizaveta has trained with legendary coach Alexei Mishin since she was a child. Elizaveta describes her training environment as healthy and harmonious and her coach as supportive, understanding, smart and wise. In the eyes of Mishin, Elizaveta is a role model for girls and women and, after her most recent World medal, he described her as “the statue of liberty holding a torch which illuminates the words – Girls work, don’t quit and you will be on the world pedestal”. Elizaveta knows that an important key to her success is the supportive and nurturing environment she chose to continue to be a part of and being surrounded by people who lift her higher.

Unlimited mindset: Elizaveta gets asked every year if this is her last season. Her most recent answer was: “I don’t have any plans of finishing my career. This is because I know I can do something greater. I feel that this is not everything I am capable of. I have strength and I want to keep going because I know that this is not my limit yet”. Elizaveta knows that she is part of something bigger and consistently seeks ways to grow and leave a legacy. Her goal is never to be the best, but rather to be better every day.

One Quote from others

#TrustTheProcess - Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

One Inspiration for us

I had the privilege to watch Elizaveta skating live three times. The first time was at the Europeans Championships in Stockholm 2015 where she was crowned European Champion. The second time was at the Grand Prix Final 2018 in Vancouver where she won a bronze medal. The third time was at Skate Canada 2021. This last competition was very special for me as I was sitting in the front row and prepared a big poster for her (which you can see in the picture below). A wonderful memory was when, at the end of her free program, on her way to the kiss and cry, she acknowledged me and the poster with a handwave and a bow (5:15 of this video).

Inspired by Elizaveta’s story, this week I share three of my favourite programs:

Loneliness: Free Program 2022/23. This is probably her most mature program to date and I love the freedom, emotions and joy she emanates when skating it.

Bolero: Short Program 2014/15. This is a gutsy program filled with character and boldness. The only woman to dare to go for a triple Axel in the competition led Elizaveta to win the World Championships. The huge risk paid off - no guts, no glory.

Drumming song: Short Program 2019/20. This program has a funny background story: it was originally choreographed to be skated to the Drumming Song by Florence and the Machine, but, at the start of the season, it was decided to change the music while aiming to retain much of the original choreography. I was quite disappointed with this choice and one evening I decided to edit the program adding the original song and posted it on YouTube. The video went relatively viral and few weeks later Elizaveta announced that she was returning to the original song! I felt quite the influencer 😊