There has been significant tragedy in the figure skating world this week. On Wednesday evening, an airplane traveling from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, D.C. collided with an American army helicopter. There were 67 fatalities, many of them in the figure skating community as the United States Figure Skating Championships took place in Wichita, Kansas this past weekend. Among those who died included American figure skating hopefuls Spencer Lane, Jinna Han, Angela Yang, Sean Kay, Everly Livingston and Alydia Livingston according to Anna Betts of the Guardian.
Meanwhile, there were four notable former Russian figure skaters, who later became coaches, who also passed away in the plane crash. They include ice dancer Alexandr Kirsanov, world champion pairs figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, and pairs figure skater Inna Volyanskaya.
Then on Thursday evening in a separate event, American figure skating legend Dick Button of Englewood, New Jersey passed away at the age of 95. Ironically, Shishkova, Naumov, Lane, Han, and Button were all part of the Skating Club of Boston.
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov
Shishkova and Naumov won the gold medal in pairs figure skating at the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships in Chiba, Japan. They also won silver medal at the 1995 World Figure Skating Championships in Birmingham, and the bronze medal at the 1993 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague.
Dick Button
Considered one of the finest men’s singles figure skaters of all-time, Button was the first to successfully land a double Axel and a triple jump. He won two gold medals at the Olympic Games. The first came at the 1948 Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz, and the second in 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo. Button also won five consecutive gold medals at the World Figure Skating Championships from 1948 to 1952. All five World Figure Skating Championships were in Europe. They were in Davos, Switzerland in 1948, in Paris, France in 1949 and again in 1952, London, England in 1950, and Milan, Italy in 1951.
