Moscow (AFP) – Russian figure skaters including world champion couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 pairs title, were on board a US passenger jet that crashed in Washington on Wednesday, Russian state news agencies reported. The plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew collided midair with a military helicopter as it was approaching Reagan National Airport in Washington DC on Wednesday evening, plunging into the freezing Potomac River.
Authorities in the US have not confirmed the identities of any of the victims but Russia’s state TASS and RIA news agencies cited anonymous sources as saying that Shishkova and Naumov were on board, as well as Inna Volyanskaya, a former pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union. Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, competed at six world championships between 1991 to 1996, winning gold, silver and bronze medals. The peak of their career was winning the 1994 pairs title at the world championships in Chiba, Japan. The couple, who married in 1995, ended their careers after failing to qualify for the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.
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After becoming professionals, they moved to the United States to become coaches, first in Connecticut then in Boston since 2017. Their 23-year-old son Maxim Naumov, the US junior champion in 2020, had recently placed fourth in the US national championships in Kansas. The Kremlin on Thursday confirmed that Russian citizens were on board the plane, saying it had seen “sad reports” the couple were among them.
Russia’s Figure Skating Federation said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy.” “Some of them were our compatriots and in their time made a significant contribution to domestic figure skating,” it said, without naming any of the victims. Several members of the US figure skating community were also passengers, the sport’s national governing body confirmed. They had been taking part in a training camp for top juniors that was held after the US championships, which took place in Wichita, Kansas, at the weekend.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” US Figure Skating said in a statement. “Figure skating is more than a sport, it’s a close-knit family and we stand together,” the International Skating Union (ISU) added.
© 2024 AFP
