MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We humans express our grief in many different ways. Last night in Washington, D.C., it looked like figure skating. The nation's best figure skaters delivered a tribute to victims of January's plane crash, which took place just outside D.C. More than two dozen of those on board were young figure skaters, their families and coaches. NPR's Becky Sullivan has this report.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Some of the most recognizable names in American figure skating were part of the show on Sunday night - Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, Nathan Chen, Johnny Weir - and so too were members of what's likely to be the U.S. team at next year's Winter Olympics. But none of them could match the emotion of 13-year-old figure skater Isabella Aparicio.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUCIANO APARICIO PERFORMANCE OF JOHANN PACHELBEL'S "CANON IN D MAJOR")
SULLIVAN: Aparicio lost her older brother Franco and her father Luciano on American Eagle Flight 5342 back in January. She skated last night to a recording of her father playing Pachelbel's "Canon."
(SOUNDBITE OF LUCIANO APARICIO PERFORMANCE OF JOHANN PACHELBEL'S "CANON IN D MAJOR")
SULLIVAN: She knelt on the ice and put her face in her hands as the tears came, and the crowd of 15,000 people stood to applaud her.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)
SULLIVAN: Her dad and brother were traveling home from a youth development camp that had followed the U.S. figure skating championships in Wichita. The plane was on its final approach when it and a military helicopter collided in midair. All 67 people aboard the two craft were killed. Nearly a dozen of them were young skaters who'd been at the camp. The oldest was 16; the youngest just 11. All of them were traveling with at least one parent. The world of elite figure skating isn't especially big, and the news shocked people deeply.
ILIA MALININ: It was a very traumatic experience for me and really just devastating for me to hear.
SULLIVAN: Ilia Malinin is one of the biggest stars in the sport right now. He had just won the men's national title in Wichita but had already come home to Virginia when he heard about the crash. He had to step away from skating altogether for a few days, he said. Being from the D.C. area, the 20-year-old knew several of the victims, even though they were younger than him.
MALININ: They would stop by my home rink to just skate around when all the other ice rinks didn't have ice time. And it was really fun for me to see them, you know, get on the ice and be passionate about their sport.
SULLIVAN: Four coaches were on the plane, too, including the husband and wife pair Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. Their 24-year-old son, Max, is a talented figure skater himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SULLIVAN: He placed fourth at the championships three days before the crash. Last night, he carried two white roses out to the ice to begin his routine. Sequins on his maroon shirt glittered in the spotlight as he performed.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SULLIVAN: He finished with the turn into a kneel.
(APPLAUSE)
SULLIVAN: Then he sobbed.
(APPLAUSE)
SULLIVAN: The performances of Naumov and Isabella Aparicio stuck with Sam Auxier, president and acting CEO of U.S. figure skating.
SAM AUXIER: I don't know how they did it. I mean, both of them, the emotion you could see. The passion you could see. The feeling for their loved ones that they lost.
SULLIVAN: It was an amazing moment, he said.
Becky Sullivan, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF TARO UMEBAYASHI'S "YURI ON ICE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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