Former world champions, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the American Airlines plane that shocked with a military helicopter
Born in Leningrad, Shishkova and Naumov began to skate together in 1985 and were known figures in pairs in pairs, and represented the Soviet Union – and later Russia – in the sport. They won notoriety after winning the World Championship in 1994. They also played two winter Olympics, Albertville-1992 and Lillehammer-1994. The best Olympic classification happened in the second participation, when the two ended in fourth place.>
The athletes also won two other podiums in worldwide (bronze in 1993 and silver in 1995). They still add five podiums in the European Championship with four bronzes and one silver. The partnership, by the way, hardly happened, because Naumov found Shishkova “very small”. >
“She was so small. I said, ‘No way. I won’t skate with this girl,” he said in an interview with’ Boston News’ in 2018. “A workout was enough for him to change his mind,” he added Shishkova.>
In 1998, Shishkova and Naumov moved to the United States, where they started acting as coaches. They were returning from the National Development Camp, accompanied by a group of young skaters.>
The American Airlines plane carried 64 people (60 passengers and four crew) and came from Wichita, in Kansas, bound for Reagan National Airport in Washington. But it collided in the air against the military helicopter and fell into the Potomac River. The US Figure Skating organization confirmed that many of its athletes were aboard the plane.>
Inna Voltarynskaya, a former pathinator who competed for the Soviet Union, was in the aircraft, according to Russian news agency Tass. She was a coach of a Washington art skating club.>
“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning from the National Development Camp, held in conjunction with the US National Artistic Skating Championship in Wichita, Kansas. We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and keep the victims’ families in our hearts. We will disclose more information as soon as they are available, “he said.>
