It was an emotional afternoon on Sunday, March 2 as the figure skating community, along with Washington, D.C. first responders, came together to honor and remember the 67 people, including 28 members of the figure skating community, killed in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 on January 29. The show’s hosts, Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi, welcomed the near-sellout crowd, noting that “while it is important to mourn the lost lives, it is also important to celebrate them” and the impact they had.

With each heartfelt performance, the skaters shared both grief and resilience with the audience in the arena and those watching online around the world. Joining the skaters on the ice was an array of past champions – Nancy Kerrigan, Paul Wylie, Scott Hamilton, Kitty and Peter Carruthers, Richard Dwyer, Peggy Fleming, Michael Weiss, Johnny Weir and Nathan Chen assisted Boitano and Yamaguchi with tributes and skater introductions.

Among the particularly moving performances was Junior skater Sofia Bezkorovainaya’s graceful skate to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” To honor her coach Inna Volyanskaya and training mates Everly Livingston and Franco Aparicio, and their families, Sofia wore the same dress worn by Everly this season. Following her solo, Sofia was joined by Washington FSC clubmates in a group number to “You’ll Be in My Heart,” ending with Sofia holding a bouquet of flowers upward, in memory of their coach and friends.

Newly-minted Four Continents bronze medalist Jimmy Ma gave an emotional performance to “I’ll Fly Away,” the music Jinna Han, one of the four Skating Club of Boston members lost in the crash, skated to this season. Fellow SCOB members and U.S. pairs champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov immediately followed Ma with a lyrical skate to “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” that had the audience spellbound.

But the biggest emotional moments came from Max Naumov and Isabella Aparicio. Max, U.S. pewter medalist, chose to honor his parents and coaches, 1994 world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadym Naumov, with a powerful program to their favorite song, “The City That Doesn’t Exist.” In his introduction, Wylie explained that whenever the song would be played, Evgenia and Vadym would “jump up and slow dance together because it had such a deep emotional connection for them.” There was not a dry eye in the arena as Max poured his emotions into his skating, ending on his knees looking up toward the sky with tears in his eyes.

Franco Aparicio’s sister, Isabella, summoned incredible courage to skate a moving tribute to her father and brother. Skating to a recording of her father playing Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”, Isabella gave a graceful performance while fighting back tears. Most in the audience also had tears in their eyes as they gave her a standing ovation.

Johnny Weir’s “Memory”, in tribute to the University of Delaware FSC members – coach Sasha Kirsanov and ice dancers Sean Kay and Angela Yang and their mothers – lost in the crash, and Ilia Kulik’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” tribute to his student Olivia Eve Ter of the Ion FSC, showcased their beautiful skating. Sarah Everhardt’s sophisticated program to “I’ll Take Care of You” by Beth Hart, skated in tribute to the Skating Club of Northern Virginia members lost in the crash – Brielle Beyer and her mother, Edward Zhou and his parents, and Cory Haynos and his parents – showed a strong connection to the music. She should consider this genre of music for a competitive program.

Other skating highlights included Amber Glenn’s lyrical and powerful skating to “Rise Up”, Jason Brown’s show version of “Impossible Dream”, Andrew Torgashev’s short program to “L’Enfer” by Stromae, Alysa Liu’s “Hero” (in tribute to the first responders), Camden Pulkinen’s “On the Nature of Daylight”, Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ “Once I Was Loved” and Ilia Malinin’s “Hope”. Group numbers “Halo”, a re-creation of Yebin Mok’s choreography class at this year’s National Development Camp (NDC) and ending with a trio skate of Ashley Cain, Gracie Gold and Mok, “Imagine”, and Capital Theater on Ice’s tribute to their teammates Everly and Alydia Livingston to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and “Flying” by Cody Fry were also deeply moving.

From the show’s first notes to the finale to Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” that ended with the cast holding hands in a circle, the underlying theme was of unity and shared strength. Moments and gestures interspersed throughout the show – Naumov encircled by Ma, Efimova and Mitrofanov as they raised a candle together, a moment of silence with audience members holding up their phones with flashlights on, the acknowledgment and applause for the hundreds of first responders at the crash scene – emphasized that no one grieves alone and those lost will never be forgotten.

And there was also resilience. In a brief video preceding the “Halo” number, Kevin Coppola, director of this year’s NDC, affirmed, “The 2025 National Development Team will forever have 151 members in our hearts and we will keep gliding for you.”