Plane Crash that took the lives of the 1961 US World Team

http://www.squareone.org/PolarPalace/usteam.html

The above is a link to one of the greatest tragedies in sports history – the loss of the entire United States World Figure Skating team in February 1961. The plane carrying the 18 skaters, coaches, family members, friends, passengers, and crew perished when their plane, en route from New York to Prague, Czechoslovakia, crashed outside of Belgium. There were no survivors.

The ISU, in a sign of unity and mourning, cancelled the World Championships that year. The USFSA had urged the meet to go on, but they were voted down – the only country who did not want to cancel. Many skaters from other countries had arrived in Prague and were practicing when they received the news of the plane crash. Everything just stopped, everyone packed their bags and went home.

President John F. Kennedy, who had been in office just a few weeks, issued the following statement from the White House: “This disaster has brought tragedy to many American families and is a great loss to the international community of sports as well. Our country has sustained a great loss of talent and grace that had brought pleasure to people all over the world.”

Canada’s Don Jackson had been scheduled to fly to Prague with the US team; however, he caught the flu and rescheduled his flight. His illness, literally, saved his life. The following year, Don won the World title in Prague and became the first skater to land a triple lutz in competition.

The plane crash ended the American dominance in singles skating, which had lasted from the post-World War II era until 1961. Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, Dick Button, Ronnie Robertson, Hayes Allen Jenkins, David Jenkins, and Barbara Roles dominated the sport.

Peggy Fleming, then a 12-year-old junior skater, lost her coach and a number of senior level skaters who trained at her rink.

The USFSA started the Memorial Fund to provide much-needed financial assistance for American competitive figure skaters. I’ve donated to this fund, as I’m sure many of you have. Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi, on behalf of the Fund, wrote, thanking me for being a part of the effort that helped them achieve their Olympic dream. Naturally, I don’t take any credit – please – many people contributed to the fund!

Silver, as you point out, we lost coaches as well as skaters. I believe this is when people such as John Nicks (originally from Britain) and Carlo Fassi were brought over to fill the void. Frank Carroll, from the Boston area nexus of skating talent, had been trained by the legendary coach Maribel Vinson Owen, who died (along with both her daughters--the whole family gone at once) on the plane. I read once that so many times during the aftermath, Carroll would want to consult with Owen about some issue related to a student, and he would realize anew that he couldn't talk to her. I think many of us have had this experience relating to a lost loved one, when we are almost at the point of picking up the phone...only to remember that he or she is somewhere that doesn't have an area code....

I'm sure that one reason that Peggy Fleming is so treasured in the skating community is because she was the first consistent champion to rise from the ashes of the lost skating program. She won the first of her three World Championships in I think 1966, and then of course she won the OGM. It must have meant so much to those who had lived through the event and then the barren years afterward.

Interestingly, there was an earlier Olympian who did well. Scott Ethan Allen won the Olympic bronze medalist in 1964. He was just under fifteen when he won. Unbelievable! He won a few more medals (World silver, two National championships) but never equalled his achievement of 1964. There's a brief Wiki article about him saying that he went to Harvard and now lives in NJ. Does anyone have any more information about him? I've never seen him interviewed, even in this anniversary year of the crash.

Thanks for the memories, Silverpond, however sad. U.S. Figure skating was changed forever, that's for sire.

A very moving tribute to the lost 1961 US World Team was broadcast during ABC-TV's coverage of the 1991 US Nationals, which then marked the 30-year anniversary of this tragedy.

Footage was shown of all of the skaters who were on the team. They had so much potential and talent. Dick Button spoke, quite emotionally, about the loss of so many of his friends and coaches. Carol Heiss, who knew many of the skaters very well, as she had just retired from amateur competition, also spoke movingly about her late friends.

It was clear the US figure skating team was a very close-knit group in those days. Naturally, they were competitors and wanted to win, yet they supported each other with a special kind of grace and sportsmanship, which was one of the legacies they left behind.

USFigureSkating comissioned a memorial documentary that was shown in theatres on the 50th anniversary of the crash this year.

http://www.rise1961.com/

Here's the Golden Skate thread about it: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...-Must-See-for-all-Skating-Fans&highlight=rise

Here is a clip from "Fire on Ice" that is about the '61 crash and the rise of Peggy Fleming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcPNh7Yn7zQ

Thanks, Hernando. I remember watching "Fire on Ice", the tribute to the 1961 US World Team, and the rise of Peggy Fleming, who rose from the ashes to put the USA at the top of the World podium. It was a very difficult program to watch, but it was beautifully compiled, and it was a lovely, moving tribute.