After the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, some young athletes stayed a couple of additional days for further development.
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that coaches, athletes and their family members were killed in the collision while coming back from a camp in conjunction with the championships.
Figure skating luminaries reacted Thursday to the deadly plane crash that claimed the lives of several youth figure skaters, their coaches, and their families.
Amber Glenn, a 25-year-old from Plano who defended her U.S. figure skating championship last week in Wichita, was also among the community within the sport devastated by the news. “I’m in complete shock. I’m sorry I don’t even know what to say,” Glenn posted to Instagram on Thursday morning.
Some skaters, their families, and coaches were on American Airlines Flight 5342 that crashed with a military helicopter on Wednesday night.
Coach Alexandr Kirsanov and skaters Angela Yang and Sean Kay were on the plane, Kirsanov's wife, Natalia Gudin confirmed.
US Figure Skating confirmed several members of the skating community were onboard the American Airlines flight that collided with a Blackhawk military helicopter.
The Kansas City Figure Skating Club reacted to the loss of a community in a plane crash near DC.
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place Jan. 21-26 in Wichita, Kansas. U.S. Figure Skating did not identify any of the members of its team that were on board. Doug Zeghib
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs, lost their lives in the crash. They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers. They are survived by their son, Maxim Naumov, who just won fourth place at the US men’s figure skating championships last weekend.
Figure skaters and others killed in the mid-air collision near Washington, D.C. this week will be honored when the world championships are staged in Boston in March. International Skating Union president Jae Youl Kim held back tears on Friday in making the announcement during the European championships in Tallinn.