Figure skating community reels from losses of athletes, coaches and family
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A cohort of competitive figure skaters and their companions, including retired champions, athletic coaches and family members, was aboard the American Airlines flight that crashed into the Potomac River, according to the figure skating community and Russian officials.
In a statement shared with The Washington Post, U.S. Figure Skating, the sport’s national governing body, said “several” members of its community were on the Washington-bound flight from Wichita, where the national championships took place last week. A U.S. Figure Skating spokesperson declined to specify a number.
D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. said at a news briefing Thursday morning, “We don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.” Neither the airline nor aviation authorities had published an official list identifying the flight’s 60 passengers and four crew members by name as of early Thursday.
About 20 of the passengers were competitive figure skaters or coaches, numbering around one-third of those on board, according to a person professionally involved in the sport who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. The person confirmed that the list of figure skaters aboard included minors.
Two renowned Russian former figure skaters, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were among the passengers, the Kremlin said. Their son, Maxim Naumov, competed in the men’s competition in Wichita over the weekend, finishing fourth. He left Wichita earlier in the week and was not on the flight.
At a news briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not name the two former champions, but he answered in the affirmative when asked whether they were aboard the flight.
“There were other of our fellow citizens there as well,” Peskov added without identifying anyone by name.
The crash happened three days after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships - the most prestigious annual event on the American figure skating calendar - concluded in Wichita. The week-long event crowned national champions across four categories at junior and senior levels, attracting figure skaters and their coaches and families from across the United States.
According to U.S. Figure Skating, some younger athletes remained in Wichita for days after the competition ended to attend an advanced training program.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the statement said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.
Shishkova and Naumov, skating for Russia, won the 1994 world championships, as well as silver and bronze medals in many other events. Since 1998, the married pair had lived in the United States, where they coached young ice skaters, including Maxim, 23. Naumov, 55, was a coach with the U.S. national team, training championship winners and preparing competitors for international competitions, while Shishkova, 52, was an assistant coach to many U.S. champions.
The Skating Club of Boston, where Shishkova and Naumov coached, confirmed their deaths, as well as those of junior skater Jinna Han, 15; her mother, Jin; junior skater Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine.
Spencer Lane, who was born in Korea and adopted as a 10-month-old, fell in love with figure skating watching YouTube, his grandparents said in a phone interview Thursday morning. Aiming to advance to the next level in the sport, he received a medal at an event late last year that qualified him to participate in the training program in Wichita, where he traveled with his mother. He had been working to learn to land a triple axel.
Members of the U.S. figure skating community reeled in the wake of the news.
“It is really hard for me to wrap my head around what’s actually happening,” said Sonja Hilmer, who finished ninth in the women’s competition last week in Wichita.
Hilmer, 25, said she watched portions of the championships alongside others who were now gone. She knew Shishkova and Naumov, who she said “always showed incredible kindness and enthusiasm for the sport and their students.”
The crash, she added, “will affect the entire [skating] family.”
At the Ashburn Ice House in Loudoun County, Virginia, and MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia, visitors left flowers, plush toy animals and snacks in the lobbies, while figure skaters and hockey players practiced on the ice.
“It is with heavy hearts that we have learned that our figure skating community has been directly affected,” the Ashburn facility said in a statement posted to its website. “The figure skating community is a close-knit, worldwide family and our hearts go out to all affected by this terrible tragedy.”
Other skaters flocked to social media overnight to express their concerns.
“I hope and pray for everyone who was on that flight,” Ilia Malinin, who was crowned U.S. champion in Wichita on Sunday, wrote in an Instagram story.
U.S. pairs skater Luke Wang, who competed in Wichita last week, said in a social media post that he was “praying for all those on the flight.” He said the crash was “absolutely heartbreaking.”
Ethan Peal, a U.S. ice dancer, wrote that he was “in shock” and praying “for families and my skating community.”
“Dear God I can’t take this,” Peal said in another post early Thursday. “Hug your loved ones.”
More than 60 years ago, the American figure skating community was devastated by another deadly aviation crash. In February 1961, a plane carrying the U.S. figure skating team to that year’s world championships in Prague crashed in Brussels, killing 73 people. All 18 members of the team died.
Olivia George, Teo Armus, Hau Chu and Robyn Dixon contributed to this report.