American skater Jason Brown has been thinking about his grandfather since January’s crash between an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter outside Reagan National Airport killed 67 people, including 28 from his beloved figure skating community.
“My grandfather would always tell me growing up that when you share your wins and your victories together with family, they double,” the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, said at Sunday’s “Legacy on Ice” event at Capital One Arena. “And when you share the losses and the tragedies, those sorrows get cut in half.”
That’s why Brown, alongside dozens of U.S. figure skaters, descended on the District this weekend: to honor the coaches, skaters and family members they lost and share their grief.
The event, a joint effort between Monumental Sports and U.S. Figure Skating, drew a sellout crowd of 15,000 fans who gathered to watch the nation’s best skaters — including legends of the sport like 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano and modern stars like reigning world champion Ilia Malinin — put on a show.
It was a one-of-a-kind showcase, one the athletes said they’d rather coordinate under less tragic circumstances.
“The fact that we are all here, that we have come together and get to share a moment of — not closure — but to reflect and pay tribute,” Brown said. “I’m very grateful for that.”
Proceeds from the showcase supported U.S. Figure Skating, the D.C. Fire and EMS Foundation and the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s DCA Together Relief Fund.
Joining the Olympic medalists and Grand Prix winners were local skaters, including members of the Washington Figure Skating Club, which lost seven members in the crash.
The club’s Sofia Bezkorovainaya performed to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to honor locals Franco Aparicio, Luciano Aparicio, Alydia Livingston, Donna Livingston, Everly Livingston, Peter Livingston and Inna Volyanskaya.
Her clubmates joined her in the next performance, which they dedicated to Volyanskaya, their coach.
The show stopped moments later for Isabella Aparicio, a member of the skating club who lost her father, Luciano, and brother, Franco, in the crash. She took the ice for a solo performance. The lights dimmed as the audience illuminated their phone flashlights, creating 15,000 digital candles that honored the Aparicio family.
Isabella Aparicio performed to a recording of “Canon in D.” However, this version was recorded by her father, complete with background sounds from the Aparicio household. Luciano’s presence was undeniable, as the sound of his fingers sliding across the chords echoed throughout the arena.
The routine drew a standing ovation.
Isabella Aparicio was just one of many skaters at Sunday’s event who lost loved ones in the crash.
Max Naumov, the son of 1994 world champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, lost both his parents in January. He honored them with a powerful routine set to “The City That Doesn’t Exist.” It was his parents’ favorite song — they’d always get up and dance to it, Max Naumov told the hosts.
After a group skate with his compatriots from the Skating Club of Boston, a tearful Max Naumov thrust a candle into the air as he left the ice. An emotional crowd honored him with an extended ovation.
“To deal with what they’re dealing with and perform in front of such a large audience is pretty amazing,” Sam Auxier, the president of U.S. Figure Skating, said. “It was pretty amazing.”
The emotions ran high and extended beyond those who lost immediate family members in the crash. Malinin, the only person to land a quadruple axel in international competition, became the public face of American figure skating after the crash, regularly appearing on cable news shows to explain the severity of the tragedy.
Auxier later said that Malinin was the driving force behind the event.
“Just being here in this region and knowing everyone on that flight in our community, it was a very traumatic experience for me, really just devastating,” Malinin said. “I wanted to have something that everyone, as a whole community, could remember them.”
The Northern Virginia native Malinin channeled those emotions on Sunday. He ended the solo portion of the show with his signature moves — the quadruple axel and a backflip — in an electric performance set to “Hope” by rapper NF.
Their performances had a financial impact, too. All proceeds from the event — including those from souvenirs, ticket sales and an auction of sports memorabilia donated by the District’s professional teams — supported charitable efforts to support those affected by the crash.
Some of the money raised went directly to the 67 families affected by the crash with no strings attached, organizers said.
“We’ve heard from the families about things like college tuition for young children who are in elementary school today but also things like therapy and healthcare that they need,” said Monica Dixon, Monumental’s president of external affairs and chief administrative officer. “Every family will choose how to use those funds in the best way that they choose.”
While the skaters glided around the ice, performing leaps and spins to ballads like John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Beyonce’s “Halo,” the families met with the first responders who pulled the victims from a frigid Potomac River during an extensive recovery operation.
The families were eager to thank the first responders. The feeling was mutual, organizers said.
“This was an incredibly challenging scene for those first responders. It was dangerous. The things that they witnessed are very difficult and will stay with them for a long time,” Amy Mauro, the executive director of the D.C. Fire and EMS Foundation, said. “This is part of their grieving and healing process as well.”
Sunday’s showcase ended with more than two dozen skaters on the ice. They linked hands in a line that spanned the width of the rink, intended to show the unity of the figure skating community after January’s tragedy.
“Coming together today and doing something tangible like a show will give people, hopefully, a little glimmer of hope, a little light for that next step forward,” said Evan Bates, a reigning Olympic gold medalist as an ice dancer. “Seeing the past, present and future champions all come together for this cause will hopefully give people a little bit of catharsis.”
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.