World and European figure skating champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva stole the show at the WTA St. Petersburg Open, presenting her famous ‘striptease’ routine during the event’s closing ceremony.
The 23-year-old was invited to take part in a specially organized gala show which took place shortly after the women’s final match between Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Tuktamysheva, who lives and trains in St. Petersburg, gladly accepted the invitation, reproducing her famous ‘striptease’ dance to the Britney Spears hit ‘Toxic’ on a small area of ice constructed atop the tennis court.
The skater, who performed alongside a professional dancing band, sent the crowd at the Sibur Arena into meltdown with the raunchy dance, which generated a lot of discussion last season.
Tuktamysheva’s routine was a huge hit on social media, inspiring other skaters to try out new risque dances as well as provocative outfits which made their performances highly memorable – especially among male fans.
Responding to criticism directed at her for starting the so-called ‘undressing trend’, Tuktamysheva stressed that such dances help raise the popularity of figure skating.
This season the skater failed to make it to the national squad, finishing fourth at the Russian Championship in Krasnoyarsk.