On Wednesday night, an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., crashing into the Potomac River. As of Friday morning, the three soldiers who were in the helicopter and all 64 passengers and crew from the flight are presumed dead, including 14 American and Russian figure skaters who were on their way back from a training camp in Wichita, Kansas. The victims include 1994 World Champions turned coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, along with teenagers Cory Haynos, Spencer Lane, Jinna Han, and sisters Everly and Alydia Livingston, who were 14 and 11 years old.
On Wednesday, Olympic skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tenley Albright gathered with the community at the Skating Club of Boston, which lost six members — two teenage skaters, their mothers, and two coaches — in the tragedy. “We came here because we needed to be together,” Albright said through tears.
Here’s how the skating community is remembering the young stars they lost.