Nancy Kerrigan tearfully pays tribute to figure skaters in plane crash
U.S. Olympic figure skating icon Nancy Kerrigan spoke through tears as she remembered members of the skating community who are believed to be dead after the devastating crash of a military helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342.
The aircraft, carrying members of the figure skating community home from the National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas, collided with a helicopter over Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening.
Speaking at a Jan. 30 press conference held at the Skating Club of Boston — home to six of the crash victims — Kerrigan reflected on the tragedy. She shared that while she had trained at the club's former facility, she had not personally worked with those on the flight but had interacted face-to-face with them over the years.
'Not sure how to process it,' she said tearfully as she began, 'which is why I'm here.'
Kerrigan underscored the impact of the tragedy on the close-knit skating community during the interview.
"Our community is ... it's pretty small," she explained. "It's not just here that's hurting, and I think it's not just in these specific places. Every rink that has skating has feelings towards this. It's tragic."
U.S. Figure Skating — the country's governing body for the sport — has nearly 246,000 members, including 185,581 Learn to Skate USA members, according to its website.
While appearing alongside Kerrigan, leaders of the Skating Club of Boston said its skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han were on the flight along with their mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han. Coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova also died in the accident.
Toward the end of the interview, Kerrigan reflected on a shared bond of resilience amongst skaters forged through training through harsh realities and pain.
"We've been through the same thing — that training, that rigorous schedule of falling over and over and somehow picking yourself back up, which is like the main lesson, I think, learned in skating," she continued. "You get back up. Keep on trying. And even when it's hard, you get back up. Even when you're crying, hurt, in pain, get back up and move forward. Not easy, but that's what we all have to do now together.'
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
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