If you were hoping to see Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's triple axel again at this year's figure skating world championships again, you're out of luck.
Fortunately, it's not because she's injured.
Defending gold-medalist Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's coach Alexei Mishin told Russian news outlets that the skater would not be attending the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships in March. Instead, Tuktamysheva has been assigned to represent Russia at the World Team competition in April.
"I can say that Tuktamysheva will definitely not take part in the world championships because we have other plans" said Mishin (via Sports Daily).
The other plans in question is to represent the European team at the 2016 Team Challenge Cup, which will be held in Spokane, Washington on April 22 through April 24. According to the official website, each team (North America, Europe, and Asia) is comprised of three female figure skaters, three men, two pairs teams, and two ice dance teams.
The team Europe captain is two-time Olympic medalist from Great Britain, Christopher Dean. Kristi Yamaguchi will coach the North American team. The Team Asia captain has yet to be announced.
Fellow Russian figure skaters Evgenia Medvedeva, Elena Radionova, Anna Pogrilaya, and Adelina Sotnikova are likely to contend for the three Russian spots at the 2016 Figure Skating World Championships. Medvedeva, Radionova, and Pogorilaya recently swept the podium at the 2016 European Championships, and reigning Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova has finally recovered from her ankle injury.
As for Tuktamysheva's exclusion from the Russian worlds team, perhaps it is due to her recent eigth place finish at Russian National Championships. It was particularly shocking due to her previous successes at the 2015 Warsaw Cup and the 2015 Golden Spin Of Zegreb.
Though it may be disappointing for Tuktamysheva fans to miss her at worlds, perhaps the small break until April will allow for her to have a fresh start at the Team Challenge Cup.
