- The Legacy on Ice Benefit event, with American skating stars, paid tribute to the 67 who died when an army helicopter collided with an American flight of airlines and crashed into the Potomac river on January 29.
- The skaters described both the difficulty of managing the tragedy and the feeling of community support they obtained from the event. Some shed tears during or after their performance.
- The intention of the event was to collect funds for artistic skaters, the first stakeholders and all the families affected by the accident.
Maxim Naunov cried on his knees at the end of his performance by honoring his parents, wiped tears while he was skating ice and held an electric candle in the air while the applause was raining. Amber Glenn broke down when she finished skating, just like Isabella Aparicio, 13, who performed in memory of her brother, Franco, and their father, Luciano.
“There was no eye drought to find anywhere,” said the skater Madison Chock.
A weak whisper of tears pierced a long moment of silence while fans lit the arena with their mobile phones, on waves of emotion through a poignant figure skating program on Sunday in the country’s capital to remember and collect funds for the victims of the open -air collision outside Ronald Reagon National Airport.
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The Legacy on Ice Benefit event presented a star group of some of the best American artistic skaters in the past and present to pay tribute to the 67 deceased when an army helicopter collided with an American flight of airlines and crashed into the Potomac river on January 29. This included 28 members of the artistic skating community, some of whom lived in the Washington region.
“Everyone is crying in his own way, and last month was really difficult for many of us to simply tackle us with the extent of this loss,” said Evan Bates, who with Chock won Olympic gold in Beijing in 2022. “I think you are giving up today and doing something tangible as a program.”
The American Icons of Sport Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Botano changed the show, which included Glenn’s performances, Johnny Weir and the male world champion Ilia Malinin, as well as poignant tributes to the victims.
Max Naumov reacts after playing on March 2, 2025 in Washington during the Legacy On Ice event, a tribute to figure skating to support families and relatives affected by January 29, 2025, aviation incident outside the National Airport of Ronald Reagan Washington. (AP photo / Nick Wass)
“We are not helpless,” said Boitano, opening the show. “As skiers, we have learned to be resilient and always find a positive path.”
Ted Leonsis, chief of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, who organized the event with us, artistic company, DC Fire & EMS Foundation and Greater Washington Community Foundation, hopes that doing Capital One Arena helps families of the healing process such as the concerts and sports of Madison Square Garden did in New York in 2001.
“Sport can play this role of competition and healing,” said Leonsis. “Our goal is to allow the community to heal, a kind of collective hug for these communities, but we then want to collect a lot of money.”
Dasher’s boards had 67 stars, one for each of the victims, and the skaters put flowers on a candle table by rinsing before starting their routines.
“We are all here to support each other, whether it was our friends who were on this plane, family members, coaches, teammates, relatives,” said Jason Brown, bronze medalist of the 2014 Olympic team, who patinated “The Impossible Dream” by Josh Groban. “We all travel for this sport. We can do what we like. And travel is such a huge part of what we do, so everything has struck us very much because it is such an integral part of what we do, as they are people we are closest.”
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Glenn has launched things by happening for Andra Day’s “Rise Up” and melted in tears at Center Ice when she finished. Weir, whose family moved to Newark, Delaware, when he was 12 years old to continue his skating career, devoted his performance to members of the University of Delaware’s Artistic Skating Club which was on American flight 5342 since Wichita, Kansas, following a national development camp there coinciding with the American skating championships.
“It was a very traumatic experience for me and really devastating for me to hear when it all happened, and I really wanted to have something that everyone could remember as a family, as a whole community that we remember,” said Malinein. “All our daily lives, whenever we get on the ice, we will always think of them. Whenever we are in competition, they will always be in our hearts.”
Peggy Fleming, Olympic champion of 1968, said that she hoped that the event “healed and will give strength to our skaters in the future”. Alysa Liu wants to try to honor the memory of lost people so that she “can continue”.
“It’s always a struggle and was a fight,” said Liu, who played “Hero” by Mariah Carey. “Gathering and seeing everyone has certainly been the most reassuring feeling. And it’s just because everyone knows exactly what everyone feels.”
Ilia Malinin performed on March 2, 2025 in Washington during the Legacy on Ice event, a tribute to figure skating to support families and relatives affected by January 29, 2025, open-air collision above DC (AP photo / Nick Wass)
Forty -one years after winning gold at the Olympic Games, Scott Hamilton patinated on the ice and led a prayer. “Imagine” resisted Arena speakers in an overall performance, Malinin dazzled the crowd with his routine filled with jumps and “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga was the soundtrack of the grand finale of the two-hour emotional show.
“It was just an incredible show,” said Sam Auxier, acting CEO of US skating, said. “You could even see with Ilia passion and feelings about what happened in their skating.”
Among the closed window crowds of more than 15,000, hundreds of first stakeholders and family members. Some came from Baltimore to be part of the rescue and recovery efforts.
“It was an incredibly difficult scene for these first speakers,” said Amy Mauro, director general of DC Fire and EMS Foundation. “The things they have witnessed are very difficult and will remain with them for a long time. It is also part of their mourning and healing process.”
In addition to being a gathering place for artistic skaters, the first stakeholders and all the families affected by the accident, the intention was to collect funds for all.
“We have heard of families like things like tuition fees for young children who are in primary school today but also things like therapy and health care they need,” said Monica Dixon, monumental president of external and chief affairs, Monica Dixon. “Each family will choose how to use these funds in the best way to choose.”
The event was broadcast live on Monumental Sports Network and broadcast on Peacock. NBC will display a recall performance on March 30.
“This is what we hope: we raise a lot of donations that way,” said Leonsis. “People care. The lesson is that, for me, if you personalize something like that, you can meet and do the right things in the right way.”
