Figure skating community in shock after D.C. plane crash claims lives of coaches, athletes
Figure skating community in shock after D.C. plane crash claims lives of coaches, athletes
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Two highly-regarded Russian figure skating coaches whose son recently finished fourth at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were among those feared dead after an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River Wednesday night.
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that several skaters, coaches and family members were on the commercial flight after attending a development camp that followed the national championships that wrapped up Sunday in Wichita, Kansas. “We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends and coaches, are understood to be among those on board,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.
“Figure skating is more than a sport — it’s a close-knit family — and we stand together.”. The Kremlin confirmed that two of those believed to be dead were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were well-known skaters in their own right after winning the pairs world title in 1994 in Chiba, Japan. The two-time Olympians later moved to the U.S., first as coaches at the International Skating Center in Connecticut and since 2017 at the Skating Club of Boston.
Among their students is their 23-year-old son, Maxim, the former U.S. junior champion. He has finished fourth at senior nationals the past three years, narrowly missing the podium Sunday while his parents watched at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines flight and three soldiers aboard a training flight on the Blackhawk helicopter. There was no immediate cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.
