‘The world of sports has suffered a great loss’ A look back at the lives of the Russian figure skaters killed in the D.C. plane crash

The passenger plane crash near Washington, D.C., on January 29 sent shockwaves through the figure skating world. The American Airlines flight was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, where the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and National Development Camp had just concluded. Among the victims were promising young American skaters and coaches. The disaster also claimed the lives of Russian figure skaters who had made the U.S. their home, spending years training and mentoring the next generation of athletes. Meduza looks back on their careers.

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were both born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in the Soviet Union. They began skating together as a pair in 1985 and married in 1995. Although they never medaled in the Olympics — finishing fifth at the 1992 Albertville Games and fourth at the 1994 Lillehammer Games — they achieved success at the World Figure Skating Championships. In 1993, they won a bronze medal in Prague, followed by a gold in Chiba, Japan, in 1994, and a silver in Birmingham, U.K., in 1995. They also won five medals at the European Championships: four bronzes and one silver.

In 1998, Shishkova and Naumov immigrated to the United States, joining many Russian figure skaters in the 1990s who moved there for better conditions in American sports clubs. Over time, they shifted to coaching, mentoring skaters such as Kathryn Orscher and Garrett Lucash, a pair who won the 2005 U.S. Championships.

In 2001, Shishkova and Naumov had a son, Maxim. Like his parents, Maxim became a figure skater, but he competed in singles rather than pairs. In interviews, Maxim has often said how fortunate he was to have his parents as coaches, though he admitted it wasn’t always easy. “You can ask any athlete in that situation, and they’ll say the same thing. Of course, when I was a child, I didn’t fully understand the importance of work and discipline — I wasn’t interested in that, I just wanted to have fun. They taught me how to work and what really matters. And they never spoke to me in a tone like, ‘I’m the best in the world,’” he told Sport-Express.

In 2020, Maxim won the U.S. Junior Championships and, after moving up to the adult league, placed fourth three times at the national championships. Shishkova and Naumov traveled to Wichita, Kansas, to support their son and other skaters from their club, The Skating Club of Boston.

After the plane crash, many believed 23-year-old Maxim had died with his parents. However, on January 30, American figure skater Anton Spiridonov reported that Maxim Naumov returned home on January 27, right after the competition ended, while his parents stayed in Wichita for a few more days. Maxim has not yet commented on the deaths of his father and mother.

Inna Volyanskaya

Also among the passengers on the flight was former Soviet figure skater Inna Volyanskaya, a student of Tatiana Tarasova, whose protégés have won 41 gold medals at World and European Championships since 1967, as well as seven Olympic golds.

A native of Moscow, Volyanskaya, like Shishkova and Naumov, was a star in pair skating, performing for many years with her partner and husband, Valery Spiridonov. In the 1979/80 season, Volyanskaya and Spiridonov won the bronze medal at the Soviet Championships — Inna was only 15 at the time. Throughout the 1980s, the pair represented the Soviet Union at international competitions, winning gold at prestigious tournaments such as the Blue Swords, Nebelhorn Trophy, and St. Gervais International.

After retiring from competitive skating in the 1980s, Volyanskaya worked in ice shows. Following her divorce from Valery Spiridonov, she performed for a time with Alexei Tikhonov.

In the 1990s, Volyanskaya moved to the United States, and since 2017, she had been coaching young skaters at the Ashburn Ice House in Ashburn, Virginia. She traveled to Wichita for the competition and National Development Camp with her students Everly Livingston and Franco Aparicio. All three of them were on the January 29 flight.

Alexandr Kirsanov

Alexandr Kirsanov was born in 1978 in Moscow and began figure skating at the age of three. In 1997, he and his partner Olga Pogosian won a silver medal in ice dance at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia. Two years later, in 1999, he started competing for Azerbaijan, partnering with Canadian figure skater Barbara Hanley.

He immigrated to the United States in 2003, where he teamed up with Christie Moxley. Together, they won a bronze medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy and finished fifth at the U.S. Championships.

A year after moving to the U.S., Kirsanov decided to retire from competitive skating and became a coach and choreographer in Dover, Delaware. Kirsanov was returning from the National Development Camp in Wichita with his students, Sean Kay and Angela Yang. Kirsanov’s wife, figure skating coach Natalia Gudina, was also supposed to be on the plane, but as she told ABC News, she and her husband decided she would fly with other students instead.

‘A terrible tragedy’

“Inna Volyanskaya was my student, my girl, I’m godmother to her daughter. This is heartbreaking,” Tatiana Tarasova said in a comment to TASS about the figure skater's death. She described Shishkova and Naumov as “remarkable people, a remarkable couple who lived in happiness and love.”

Three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina said she was, “deeply saddened for everyone, for our athletes, and especially for the children who took part in the competition.” “Any loss of life is a tragedy,” she told RIA Novosti.

Three-time U.S. men’s singles champion Ilia Malinin shared on Instagram that he was “heartbroken by the tragic loss” of his fellow skaters.” The figure skating community is a family, and this loss is beyond words. My thoughts are with their families, friends and everyone affected. We will never forget them,” Malinin wrote.

Mikhail Degtyarev, Russia’s Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee, stated that “the world of sports has suffered a great loss” and extended his “sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of all the victims.” “This is a terrible tragedy for the global sporting family, and today, we mourn together,” Degtyarev said in a comment to Match TV.