Tragedy Strikes Figure Skating Community as World Champions Among Victims in Passenger Jet Collision

Among the 60 passengers aboard the passenger jet that collided with a military helicopter included a large number of figure skaters, their coaches, and family members, including a world champion pair from Russia.Killed in the crash were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs titles at the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships and competed in the Olympic games twice. They were listed as coaches with the Skating Club of Boston, which had six members on the flight returning from a developmental camp during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Wichita, Kansas.“This will have long-reaching impacts for our community,” Skating Club of Boston Executive Director Doug Zeghibe said.Shishkova and Naumov had been coaching for the Skating Club since 2017. Their son, Maxim Naumov, is also a competitive skater who finished fourth place at the championships and was not on the flight as he had left Wichita a day earlier.According to a report from Russian newspaper Sanky-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, the couple posted how proud they were of Maxim in a note to him on social media.“We are proud of you, Maxim,” they wrote according to the newspaper. “He climbed to the podium at the Nationals after seventh place in the short program. This beautiful and emotional performance is the result of teamwork. Maxim has earned his place in the team of champions for four continents.”Officials with U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body for the sport in America, confirmed on Thursday morning that the athletes were aboard the fatal flight.“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. “We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts.”Among those killed in the crash were skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, along with two of their parents.On Thursday afternoon, Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan arrived at the Skating Club of Boston’s facility at Norwood, mourning the loss of the organization’s members.“We just wish them well, and [wish] the families the courage and the strength to make the next steps,” Ms. Kerrigan said to reporters at the center through teary eyes. “You look at people go through tragedies, and you wonder, ‘How do they do it?’ I don’t know. But we’re so strong. Somehow, we have a reservoir to dig from, and each one of them are strong enough to get through this somehow.”This is the second time that a plane crash left the figure skating community rocked.In 1961, a Boeing 707 traveling to the world championships to Czechoslovakia from New York crashed during its approach at Brussels, Belgium, killing all 72 passengers, including 18 members of the American team at the time, according to a report by the Dallas Morning News.Among those who died in that crash were Maribel Vinson-Owen, who was a former U.S. champion and coach, and her daughters, 16-year-old Laurie Owen, and 20-year-old Maribel Owen. Two weeks prior, Laurie had won her first women’s title, and Maribel had won her first pairs title at the national championships at Colorado Springs, Colorado. They were also members of the Skating Club of Boston.The world championships that year were canceled in memory of those who perished in the crash.

Tragedy Strikes Figure Skating Community as World Champions Among Victims in Passenger Jet Collision

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