‘She poured everything into her kids’: Mother, 12-year-old skater killed in plane crash
Those around 12-year-old Olivia Eve Ter described her as a happy, determined youth who embraced the challenges of figure skating. Her mother, Olesya Taylor, poured herself into her children.
The two, residents of the Washington D.C. metro, were among the swath of people in the figure skating world who flocked to Wichita this January for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a development camp for promising young skaters.
During their trip back home Wednesday, the mother and daughter were among those killed in the mid-air collision between their commercial flight and an Army helicopter. All 67 people aboard the two aircraft were killed, authorities have said.
Olia Legoshina, a family friend from the D.C. metro, said she was shocked when she heard confirmation the two had been aboard the flight.
“It’s still hard,” she said. “It hasn’t really sunk in what happened.”
Olivia had earned a place at the prestigious development camp in Wichita after she placed fourth in a sectional tournament, according to the podcast The Skating Lesson.
A video posted to the U.S. Figure Skating YouTube channel shows the girl twirling and gliding across the ice during the competition in the Boston area in November. At the end of her performance, she smiles, picks up a handful of stuffed animals thrown on the ice in celebration and waves to the camera as she waits for her score to be announced.
“She was so determined, she would fall and get right back up and try again,” Legoshina said. “She was so proud to be able to get to this camp in Wichita with those cream-of-the-crop kids.”
Olesya Taylor had pursued a career in medicine at one point when she had lived in Russia and eventually became a full-time mother to her two talented children, driving them to practices and competitions and managing schedules, Legoshina said. Olesya’s husband and second daughter are now left with a massive hole in their lives.
“One of the biggest reasons her kids are so bright, Olesya definitely poured everything, all of her soul, into both of them,” Legoshina said. “Just really honored to have known her and call her a friend.”
Sergii Baranov, Olivia’s coach, told The Skating Lesson the girl was a cheerful, talented, goal-oriented girl who loved ballet and figure skating.
“She had big plans for figure skating and she made huge progress over the last season,” Baranov said, according to a social media post. “Honestly, I learned from her every day how to be positive and what the latest news in music was.
“This is a very big loss for the family, for the figure skating community, and for her friends,” he said. “It is very painful to accept this reality.”
Another coach at her skating rink, Maria Elena Pinto, said the girl was a “beautiful soul” with an effervescent smile, according to The Skating Lesson.
“She was quick with a joke and loved playing tricks on her coaches,” she said. “She loved to help others learn how to skate. She was supportive to her fellow skaters, a skating sister. She was like a daughter to me, always running for hugs, the rink will never be the same. She was the sweetest child and a rare talent.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 6:24 PM.
