The International Skating Union World Figure Skating Championships are underway at TD Garden, with athletes vying to secure spots in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympic Games. This week’s event carries added weight and significance for the Boston skating community after they lost 10 athletes in a plane crash at the beginning of the year. 

On Jan. 29, an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter just moments before landing at Ronald Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C. 67 passengers and crew members were killed in the collision, including multiple members of the Skating Club of Boston. 

“It’s so tragic that they will never have that opportunity,” said Andrew Torgashev, a U.S. figure skater competing this week. “The whole US team feels … the weight of that. [We will] put our best foot forward and do it for ourselves, for them, and for their members.”

Before the competition, the athletes laced up their skates at the Garden and the Steriti Memorial Rink to practice ahead of their events later in the week. 

Torgashev practiced his free skating routine Tuesday afternoon, set to “Scheherazade” by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He was the only member of the U.S. team to participate in the afternoon session at Steriti. Torgashev’s teammates, Jason Brown and Ilia Malinin, were also slated to participate but did not take the ice during the voluntary practice.  

“I mean, I’m here to skate, so why not skate?” Torgashev said following his practice session.

Torgashev said there is “no better feeling” than to be one of the top figure skaters in the nation and to have the opportunity to compete on the international level, recently ranking second at the U.S. national championships.

“I’ll wear [the American flag] on my sleeve, and everything I wear has the U.S. on it,” Torgashev said in an interview with The Beacon. “I’m so grateful that I’m in this spot, and [that] I am going to compete for my country.”

While skaters are gearing up for a week of fierce competition, there will also be moments for pause and reflection throughout the week. Before pairs began their skating events Wednesday night, spectators and officials paused for a “Tribute and Remembrance” to honor all who perished on Jan. 29. 

Among those lost were 13-year-old Jinna Han and her mother Jin, 16-year-old Spencer Lane and his mother Christine, and famed Boston coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. They were all headed home from the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. 

Gov. Maura Healey, Mayor Michelle Wu, and leaders from the skating community were among the speakers.

Benjamin Agosto, a 2006 Olympic silver medalist, began the program and acknowledged the members of the skating community who were lost that day. 

“Their spirit[s] remain in every edge traced on this ice, in every moment of triumph, and in every heart that beats for this sport,” Agosto said. 

Healey said the victims represented the “very best” of what Massachusetts stands for: Hard work, high standards, striving for excellence, and always sharing their talents with love. 

“This is a community they loved, and the World Figure Skating Championships is the event to which they aspired,” Healey said. 

Wu noted how it is an honor for Boston to host the world championships, but that the city does so with “heavy hearts.”   

“I know the members of the Skating Club of Boston are competing tonight, and I know they won’t be skating for themselves,” Wu said. “They’ll be carrying their teammates in their hearts.”

ISU President Jae Youl Kim noted that time does not erase the pain of losses such as those honored Wednesday night. 

“For many of us, it feels like we are frozen in time,” Kim said. “Yet, in the spirit of unity and resilience, we stand together to support, to uplift, and to remember.”

Interim CEO of U.S. Figure Skating, Samuel Auxier, served as an official at the national championships in Wichita. He read a poem Wednesday night, paying tribute to those who were lost.

“I found myself at the edge of the rink this morning, hoping to see the skaters I have come to admire, but none were there to inspire,” Auxier said. “And then it occurred to me, they also exist once I remember.”

Doug Lane lost his son Spencer and wife Christine in the January plane crash. While he spoke on behalf of the families of victims, Lane urged the skating community to “take extra care” of the figure skaters who are still here and not be quick to cast blame regarding the crash.

“Rather than looking for places to blame, I hope we can work with our elected officials to make air travel safer for everyone,” Lane said. 

The Coro Allegro Choir, “Boston’s LGBTQ+ and Allied classical chorus,” performed toward the end of the program with a tone of unity and hope. Agosto closed out the program and urged all in attendance to carry forward the memories of all the victims honored Wednesday night. 

“Their passion, their dedication, and their love for skating will never fade,” Agosto said. “They [will] remain a part of our community, our sport, and our hearts.”