Chen and Kerrigan are added to cast of a figure skating event benefiting victims of DC plane crash

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Nathan Chen, Nancy Kerrigan and Peggy Fleming are among a bevy of figure skaters added to the cast of a benefit event this weekend in Washington, D.C., for victims of the midair collision and crash outside Ronald Reagan International Airport.

Olympic hopeful Isabeau Levito and reigning ice dancing world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who are favorites to win gold at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, are also scheduled to be part of the “Legacy on Ice” tribute on Sunday.

“Such an extraordinary number of skating icons have really never been put together like this — like past champions and current champions and even hopefuls all supporting the cause,” 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano, who is emceeing the event, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday. “It says so much about our figure skating community and how tight knit we are and the support that we have for each other.”

Twenty-eight members of the figure skating community were among the 67 people killed when an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight and crashed into the Potomac River on Jan. 29.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment, U.S. Figure Skating, DC Fire & EMS Foundation and the Greater Washington Community Foundation are putting on the tribute, a two-hour show that Boitano said could be five hours long given how many stars of the sport are set to take part.

“Everybody — everybody — wants to be involved in this,” Boitano said. “There’s been a lot of sadness and mourning. This is a show about hope and inspiration and supporting families in need. I think it will be an inspiring evening to definitely support the people who have lost loved ones — but at the same time with the skating community rebuild from this void that we have now.”

Two-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn, 2024 world champion Ilia Malinin, and some of the most recognizable members of the sport, including Johnny Weir, Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton, were already committed to the event, which will air live on the Peacock streaming service and locally in the Washington area on Monumental Sports Network, with NBC showing an encore performance March 30.

Kerrigan and Paul Wylie, Olympic silver medalists from the 1990s, are representing the Skating Club of Boston, which was along with Northern Virginia and Washington affected by the crash.

“Pulling together a national-level event of this magnitude in less than a month is a true testament to the unwavering support within the figure skating community,” U.S. Figure Skating interim CEO Sam Auxier said.

“Seeing figure skating champions come together from near and far to support this event has been unbelievable,” Auxier said. “The historic star power on display reflects the passion, dedication and legacy of this sport. U.S. Figure Skating is incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated and passionate community that makes moments like this possible.”

Boitano said he, Yamaguchi, Kerrigan, Wylie, Hamilton and Fleming — a 1968 Olympic champion who is now 76 — see each other at least a week a year at U.S. or world championships. This will be a reunion of sorts, with the aim of raising money.

“We all spend a lot of time together always,” Boitano said. “It is a very tight-knit community.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports