- Emma McTague of Appleton took her daughter and friends to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita
- McTague now mourns the death of a friend she just saw last weekend
- McTague is the Vice President of the Valley Figure Skating Club and he daughter participates
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Shock is the word that was used to describe the tragedy by the vice president of the valley skating club here in Appleton. She was just in Wichita and is now grappling with the loss of a friend and what's happened to their tight-knit community.
"It's going to go down as one of the dark days of figure skating,” said Valley Figure Skating Club Vice President Emma McTague.
Last weekend, Emma McTague was at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita with her daughter and friends.
"We were inspired, we were in awe,” McTague said of the event.
McTague said her daugther is a competitive skater in the skating club and they enjoyed the competition with fellow competitors and coaches.
"And then you learn about this today,” she said. “It's unreal.”
Coaches, including Sasha Kirsanov, a friend and dance coach who was on the passenger jet. The University of Delaware confirmed his death saying he was a former university skating club coach and used their facilities to train skaters.
"I cried. It was tough,” said McTague. “He's somebody that has dedicated his career to figure skating."
Beyond the Fox Valley, others in the area are also mourning the loss. The Fond du Lac Blades Figure Skating Club are currently representing the U.S. in France.
"Our hearts are breaking after the tragic crash that took the lives of team USA athletes and friends,” they said in a statement. “We are dedicating our long program to the victims."
McTague says the challenge now is for skaters to continue on after what she says is one of the darkest days in skating.
"We're going to tell our figure skaters to skate harder,” she said. “To remember and talk about coaches like Sasha and continue to be the strong community that we know and love."
Emma told me that everyone in the skating community is one degree of separation away from someone at the national event. She told me that the Valley Skating Club will now persevere through tragedy for their next competition in March.
