Nancy Kerrigan was one of several U.S. Olympic skating legends who gathered at the Skating Club of Boston Thursday to grieve its six members among the dead in the Washington, D.C., air disaster the day before.
She called it eerie to see the usually bustling club quiet, but said she didn't know where else to be — she called up Dr. Tenley Albright and Paul George, who've also been deeply involved with U.S. figure skating, and they all spoke at the club, often in tears, about the loss they feel of six members of their sport's family as well as how determined figure skaters are.
"The main lesson from skating is you get back up," Kerrigan said.
George was more blunt, saying "the sport will rebound" and that "skaters are resolute."
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George lost friends in the 1961 plane crash that killed prominent figures from U.S Figure Skating, which he went on to lead himself. He noted that he learned about both crashes roughly the same way, with a pat on the shoulder at 6:30 a.m.
Albright, the first American woman to win Olympic figure skating gold, also recalled the 1961 crash, noting that she might have been on the plane herself if not for being in her last year at Harvard Medical School.
She said of Wednesday crash, "It's terrible and it's sad and we just feel we need to be together, that's why you see so many hugs today."
Kerrigan said she had been up all night watching coverage of the crash.
"We've been through tragedies before as Americans, as people, and we are strong," she said, adding that her response was to be with people she loves.
