Following the devastating American Airlines plane crash, Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is mourning the skaters onboard who lost their lives. All of the flight’s 64 passengers and crew are presumed dead, including several U.S. and Russian figure skaters on their way back from a training camp in Wichita, Kansas. Among them were six members of the Skating Club of Boston: young skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane; their mothers, Jin Han and Christine Lane; and coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. On Thursday, Kerrigan joined community members of the Boston Skating Club — where she trained as a young skater — to share in their grief.
“I feel for the athletes, the skaters, and their families — anyone that was on that plane, not just the skaters, because it’s just such a tragic event,” Kerrigan said during a press conference captured by Boston 25 News. “We’ve been through tragedies before as Americans, as people, and we are strong, and I guess it’s how we respond to it. And my response was to be with people I care about and love. I needed support, so that’s why I’m here.”
Also speaking at the press conference were former skaters Tenley Albright and Paul George, who both referenced the 1961 plane crash that killed the entire U.S. Olympic figure-skating team and how the skating community came together during that time. “I think it’s a shock,” Kerrigan said of this week’s crash. “And then when you find out you know some of the people on the plane, it’s even a bigger blow. We just wish them well, the families. You look at people who 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.”