US Figure Skaters, Russian Ice Skating Stars Among Victims of Plane Crash Near Washington, D.C.
A devastating mid-air collision involving an American Airlines regional passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, which occurred late Wednesday near Reagan Washington National Airport, has sent shockwaves through the figure skating community as it’s been confirmed that several skaters, including a Russian world champion pair and members of the US figure skating community, were among the 64 passengers and crew on board the flight, Al Jazeera reports.
The American Airlines jet, en route from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C., was carrying athletes, coaches, and family members returning from the US Figure Skating Championships and a subsequent National Development Camp held in Wichita. The camp, which concluded on January 28, hosted nearly 150 aspiring skaters of various performance levels, according to US Figure Skating.
Among those reportedly on board were Russian figure skating legends Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 World Pairs Championship. Russian state news agencies and the Kremlin, which confirmed Russian citizens were on the flight, expressed their sadness at the reports of the couple being involved. Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, had a storied career that included gold, silver, and bronze medals at six World Championships between 1991 and 1996. The couple, who married in 1995, transitioned to coaching after their competitive career, and had been living and coaching in the US since 2017.
The couple’s son, Maxim Naumov, 23, a US Junior Champion in 2020 who recently placed fourth at the US National Championships in Kansas, was not on the same plane, according to reports.
US President Donald Trump has confirmed that the accident left no survivors.
