Special events mark 60th anniversary of 1961 U.S. figure skating world team plane crash

By Lynn RutherfordFeb 11, 2021, 6:15 PM EST

Getty Images

On Feb. 15, 1961, the 18 members of the 1961 U.S. figure skating world team, and 16 coaches, officials and family members, gathered at Idlewild Airport in Queens, New York, to board Sabena Flight 548 en route to Brussels, Belgium, a stopover on the way to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Spirits were high. Several of the athletes, including U.S. women’s champion Laurence Owen, had medal hopes. All were excited, if a bit apprehensive, about competing for the U.S. behind what was then thought of as the “Iron Curtain” of Eastern Europe.

It was not to be. The Boeing 707-329 aircraft crashed on approach to Zaventem Airport, killing all 72 people on board and one person on the ground. The precise cause of the crash has never been firmly established.

Tonight (Feb. 11) the documentary “RISE,” created by U.S. Figure Skating to honor the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, will be broadcast at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton and Michelle Kwan serve as storytellers for “RISE,” with reactions from other American figure skating legends.

All proceeds from the movie have gone to the Memorial Fund, a living legacy to the lives lost on that fateful day which helps current skaters reach their skating and academic goals.

On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Skating Club of Boston, home to several members of the 1961 world team, will host an online panel discussion to commemorate the lives lost and the rebuilding of the U.S. figure skating program. Participants include 1956 Olympic champion Dr. Tenley Albright; revered coach Frank Carroll, whose own mentor, Maribel Vinson Owen, was lost in the crash; 1960 Olympic bronze medalist Barbara Roles; 1968 Olympian Albertina Noyes; and others, including current competitors Audrey Lu, Misha Mitrofanov and Maxim Naumov. The event will be streamed online beginning 4 p.m. ET. Register online at SCBoston.org/events.

U.S. Figure Skating is also commemorating the anniversary through its Get Up campaign. Skaters and fans are encouraged to participate in the Get Up Virtual 5K throughout the month of February, be it by skating, running, walking or other means. Participants can register here and will receive a 1961 race bib, with all proceeds going to the Memorial Fund.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 4:59 PM EDT

Getty

The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

All of the American men lost before the fourth round. The last U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals was Andre Agassi in 2003.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek set French Open rematch

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 3:25 PM EDT

Getty

Coco Gauff swept into the French Open quarterfinals, where she plays Iga Swiatek in a rematch of last year’s final.

Gauff, the sixth seed, beat 100th-ranked Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round. She next plays the top seed Swiatek, who later Monday advanced after 66th-ranked Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko retired down 5-1 after taking a medical timeout due to illness.

Gauff earned a 37th consecutive win over a player ranked outside the top 50, dating to February 2022. She hasn’t faced a player in the world top 60 in four matches at Roland Garros, but the degree of difficulty ratchets up in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Swiatek won all 12 sets she’s played against Gauff, who at 19 is the only teenager in the top 49 in the world. Gauff said last week that there’s no point in revisiting last year’s final — a 6-1, 6-3 affair — but said Monday that she should rewatch that match because they haven’t met on clay since.

“I don’t want to make the final my biggest accomplishment,” she said. “Since last year I have been wanting to play her, especially at this tournament. I figured that it was going to happen, because I figured I was going to do well, and she was going to do well.

“The way my career has gone so far, if I see a level, and if I’m not quite there at that level, I know I have to improve, and I feel like you don’t really know what you have to improve on until you see that level.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Also Monday, No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia dispatched 36th-ranked American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1, breaking all eight of Pera’s service games.

Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, has now reached the quarterfinals of all four majors.

Jabeur next faces 14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 over Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, who played on a protected ranking of 68. Haddad Maia became the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era (since 1968) after Maria Bueno, who won seven majors from 1959-1966.

Pera, a 28 year-old born in Croatia, was the oldest U.S. singles player to make the fourth round of a major for the first time since Jill Craybas at 2005 Wimbledon. Her defeat left Gauff as the lone American singles player remaining out of the 35 entered in the main draws.

The last American to win a major singles title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought matches the longest in history (since 1877) for American men and women combined.

In the men’s draw, 2022 French Open runner-up Casper Ruud reached the quarterfinals by beating 35th-ranked Chilean Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5. He’ll next play sixth seed Holger Rune of Denmark, a 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7) winner over 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

Related: Figure Skating

2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

More: Olympics

More: Olympics