For Russians on the crashed jet in Washington, skating led to a life together
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A photograph of world-class ice skaters who worked as coaches, Mr Vadim Naumov and Ms Yevgeniya Shishkova, who died in the crash of an American Airlines jet on Jan 29.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ivan Nechepurenko
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Two passengers on the American Airlines jet that crashed into the Potomac River
The skaters, two champions from Russia, shared a partnership both on the ice and in marriage.
The Skating Club of Boston confirmed in a social media post on Jan 30 that Ms Yevgeniya Shishkova, 52, and Mr Vadim Naumov, 55, were on the plane that collided with a military helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan National Airport, leading to the crash that killed everyone on board.
Many passengers were athletes and coaches leaving the US Figure Skating national championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Ms Shishkova, also known as Evgenia, and Mr Naumov competed for Russia in pair figure skating before moving to the US in 1998.
They were married in their native St Petersburg, Russia, in 1995.
In the 1990s, Mr Naumov and Ms Shishkova reached the top of their careers.
They won gold in pair skating at the World Skating Championship in Japan in 1994, and participated in the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.
Overall, they skated in six World Championships, winning a collection of gold, silver and bronze medals.
They did not qualify for the 1998 Olympics and ended their skating careers to become coaches.
Like many professional Russian skaters, they moved to the US while Russia experienced a sharp economic downturn after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
They settled in Simsbury, Connecticut, where they joined the International Skating Centre of Connecticut. Apart from coaching, they took part in professional tournaments.
The coaching was not always easy. Speaking with the Yankee Magazine of New England in 2007, Mr Naumov said that in the US, children “are overexposed to competition”.
“Parents want to see results for what they’re paying for, and coaches want to show those results,” he said. “In Russia, the government paid for our training. I practiced with a group, and I didn’t start to really compete until I was 15.”
On his profile page for The Skating Club of Boston, Mr Naumov said that he loved “to create an environment where students have fun while working hard”. NYTIMES
Additional reporting by Juliet Macur
