LAUSANNE, January 30, 2025 - Two former Russian figure skating world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among those killed after an American Airlines flight collided in mid-air with a US Army helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday night and crashed into the icy cold Potomac River. As many as 14 American figure skaters were also among the 64 people on the plane that departed from Witchita in Kansas. Three soldiers were on board the military helicopter.
Jae Youl Kim, the President of the International Skating Union, the governing body of the sport, was extremely emotional while giving a statement at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, following the tragic loss. He said that the global skating community was “deeply heartbroken by the news that some of our figure skaters, their family, friends, coaches are understood to be on the flight involved in the tragic accident last night”.
He added: “We are in close contact with US Figure Skating and offer our support in this incredibly difficult time. The figure skating community is tightly connected with a strong bond and friendship. Our thoughts go out to everybody affected by this tragedy.”
Shishkova and Naumov, who won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and married each other in 1995 in Russia, were reported to have been returning from a competition with a group of young skaters. According to US Media, the couple have lived in the US since at least 1998 where they trained young ice skaters.
US Figure Skating confirmed several members of their community were on the American Airlines flight. "We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts.We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available," it said in a statement.
Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater who competed for the Soviet Union and was a coach at the Washington figure skating club, was also reported to have been on board.
The chief executive of the Skating Club of Boston, Doug Zeghibe, said: "To the best of our knowledge, 14 skaters returning home from the national development Camp at Wichita, Kansas, put on by US figure skating, were lost in the plane crash at Washington DC.
“Of those 14 skaters, six were from the Skating Club of Boston. Two coaches and two teenage athletes, and two of the athletes' mums."
"It's a major loss for our skating community," he added.
On the sidelines of the 143rd IOC Session in Lausanne on Thursday, several senior International Olympic Committee members also expressed their condolences.
Presidential candidate Prince Feisal Al Hussein began his interaction with the media by expressing his condolences to the families and friends of the victims: "To start with, I'd like to extend my condolences for the tragic loss of life in the United States in the air accident, and especially to the members of the skating family. Our hearts and prayers go out to them at this very tragic time.”
Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, said: “It would be remiss of me if I didn’t reflect on the awful events last night in the United States. I know there was grievous loss of life across the range, but I’m also deeply conscious there were Olympians and the families of Olympians on that desperate fight. So on behalf of the whole of World Athletics I’d say that our thoughts and prayers with all those families and friends have suffered such a grievous loss.”
Juan Samaranch Jnr, another IOC presidential candidate added: “The loss of life, of athletes and non-athletes, in the Olympic family and not in the Olympic family, puts everything into perspective. They have my sympathies and we hope for the best.”
