Emotions ran high at the Skating Club of Boston on Thursday, after six people with ties to the organization died in a plane crash near Reagan International Airport on Wednesday night.
Among those who spoke was the Olympic silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan, who could not hold back tears while talking about the crash.
President Donald Trump said there were no survivors after an American Airlines Jet collided with an American army Black Hawk helicopter.
The plane wore 64 people, among them teenage -skaters Jinna he and Spencer Lane, their mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane and their trainer Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
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Spencer Lane was a figure skater in the Skating Club of Boston. (IMagn)
Three members of the Skating Club of Boston – Misha Mitrophanov, Jimmy Ma and Alisa Efimova – also talked about their peers, as they say was the next generation of hopeful OS Olympians.
“The potential they showed on the ice and the abilities they had at such a young age showed that they had promised for the future of this sport,” Mitrophanov, whose partner is Efimova, told journalists on Thursday.
Mitrophanov and Efimova had just won the 2025 -American art skating in Wichita, Kansas, in the parde discipline. This is where the American Airlines flight came from. He and Lane returned from a development camp this weekend.
Olympic Great Nancy Kerrigan fights through tears when she talks about victims in tragic plane crash
“The camp brings them basically to the championships so they can see, for example Jimmy or at least a skating at a championship level,” said Mitrophanov. “Afterwards, they are part of a pretty strict routine. … lots of training, lots of exercises and exercises that the American art skating wants to see.”
He, 13, and Lane, 16, were elected to the development camp because of the promise they showed, and Ma was blunt over how promising these two skaters were.
“Absolutely phenomenal,” said Ma. “If I was their age back when I was their age, they would blow me out of the water. Even Jinna, 13 years old, I couldn’t do anything. She was already 10 times better than me at such a young age.
Jimmy Ma Skates During the 2025 US Figure Skating Championships in Intrust Bank Arena. (William Purnell.Imagn Images)
“They showed skating at the championship level. It would take time for them to develop to maximize their full potential. But the amount they were able to achieve in such a short time was absolutely remarkable.”
Efimova said the campers were discovered in the crowd in the red jackets they would wear, and when she worked with Mitrophanov to win in pairs, she used their cheer as motivation.
“They all have these red jackets, so you can really, really identify this society during the competition, which personally helps me a lot to bring a lot of joy in ice skating,” Efimova said.
MA also pointed out how big Shishkova and Naumov, winners at the World Cup in 1994 in pairs, while competing in two Olympic Games were as coaches.
“Their care of developing young skaters is almost unparalleled,” MA explained. “You could tell of their son, Max, which I not only consider a friend but a tough competitor. I look at him every day, I am like, ‘cursed, I have to do better.’ It was all of them.
Evgenia Shishkova (left), Vadim Naumov (Center) and Spencer Lane (right) were victims of the collision between an American Airlines Jet and an American black Hawk helicopter. (Instagram/Annehgoldbergbaldwin)
Boston skating club was not the only art skating race hit by this. The Philadelphia Skating Club & Humane Society posted on social media that “loved members” of its team were on airline. Skating coach Alexandr Kirsanov and two of his youth skaters were also aboard the match, according to Kirsanov’s wife per. ABC News.
“American art skating can confirm that several members of our skating were unfortunately aboard the American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided by a helicopter last night in Washington, DC,” the US art skating race said in a statement. “We are destroyed by this indescribable tragedy and keep the victims’ families closely in our hearts.”
As the world of art skating and others affected by the crash mourns the losses of loved ones, Mitrophanov said that skaters will continue to train and compete with their “family” in mind.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov receive scores during the US art skating in Intrust Bank Arena. (William Purnell/Imag Images)
“Watching these kids skate and seeing their fire and love for the sport, that’s what helped us, frankly, keep training,” said Mitrophanov. “Watching these children develop also helps us push ourselves. It’s a two -way street that they look up to us, but we also look up to them.”
