Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton held again tears on Friday as he remembered the victims from the determine skating group who died after an American Airways flight touring from improvement camp in Kansas to Washington, D.C., collided with an Military helicopter in midair late Wednesday night time.
The four-time males’s singles world champion spoke fondly of the victims throughout an look on TODAY however referred to as the truth of this week’s tragedy “overwhelming.”
Determine Skater Scott Hamilton of america competing within the determine skating competitors within the XIV Olympic Winter Video games circa 1984 in Sarajevo, Bosnia. ( Deal with Sport/Getty Pictures)
“For this to occur simply days after these championships have been over is simply devastating, stunning – it simply would not make any sense. . . .We’re no stranger to tragedy however this was simply past devastation.”
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Officers have stated that 14 skaters, coaches and members of the family have been aboard American Airways Flight 5342 when it collided with a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter close to Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport, close to D.C., at round 9 p.m. native time.
Most of the victims have been recognized, together with Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the famend ice skating coaches who gained a world championship title collectively in 1994.
World champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Russia execute a throw in the course of the pairs brief competitors on the World Determine Skating competitors in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on March 19, 1996. (Dave Buston/The Canadian Press through AP, File)
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Hamilton turned emotional when he spoke of the couple, who settled in America to grow to be coaches following their profitable profession, which culminated in two Olympic appearances. He noticed them simply days earlier than the crash whereas attending the U.S. Determine Skating Championships in Kansas.
“I truly sat with them for a pleasant go to in Wichita,” Hamilton recalled Friday.”
“To assume that they’re gone is, um, I can’t wrap my head across the final 36 hours. It’s simply been devastating, and the loss is simply past description. My coronary heart is shattered.”
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Russia carry out throughout free skating within the pairs occasion of the NHK Trophy Worldwide Determine Skating Competitors at Nagoya, Japan, on Dec. 9, 1995. AP Picture/Shizuo Kambayashi, File
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Shishkova and Naumov married in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1995, they usually moved to Connecticut. That they had a son, Maxim, who competed in males’s singles within the U.S. He was in Kansas however didn’t journey again together with his dad and mom. The Russian pair have been coaches for the Skating Membership of Boston.
Sixty passengers and 4 crew members on the American Airways aircraft and three troopers aboard a coaching flight on the helicopter are presumed lifeless.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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