Laura Kasinof, 39, was about to enter the ice rink when a fellow skater, rosy-cheeked Olivia Ter, wished her luck.
Kasinof was about to take the most advanced-level figure skating skills test, often used to qualify for championships. Olivia encouraged Kasinof, saying she was going to be great.
It was funny and endearing, Kasinof said. Olivia was just 12, and there she was encouraging her. But that was Olivia. Bubbly and kind. Determined to succeed.
Olivia was one of the 64 people aboard American Airlines flight No. 5342, which collided midair with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night. There were no survivors.
The crash has devastated Maryland’s tight-knit skating community — the jet was carrying athletes, coaches and family members flying into Washington, D.C., from the national figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Olivia, who often skated at the Tucker Road Ice Rink in Prince George’s County, was traveling back from the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp, a Kansas-based training ground.
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“The impact of Olivia’s life will continue to resonate in our youth sports community, and she will be sorely missed,” Bill Tyler, director of the Prince George’s County parks and recreation department, said in a statement.
Maria Elena Pinto, a coach at the Ion International Training Center in Virginia, often joined Olivia on the ice during practice in Virginia. The two of them were goofy, making even Olivia’s coach Sergii Baranov, usually a stern man, giggle.
Pinto said that the kids work hard and that figure skating can sometimes consume their entire lives.
“We, as coaches, support them as best as we can. We want them to have everything,” Pinto said.
Baranov could not immediately be reached for comment.
If Olivia was frustrated or sad, Pinto used big magic markers to draw on the ice and cheer her up. She drew bunnies, which Olivia loved, and hearts. She played Taylor Swift, Olivia’s favorite artist, usually “Shake it Off” or “Blank Space.”
The singer’s lyricism — “You look like my next mistake” — ran into a language barrier, Pinto said. Olivia had to explain to Baranov what it meant, between giggles. He eventually got into it, Pinto said, shaking his hips a little and bobbing his head.
After the crash, Pinto said Baranov told her only Olivia could get him to be so silly.
“She was just a good girl,” Pinto said.

Olivia was also a “beautiful skater,” Pinto said.
She wanted to make it to the Olympics, and Pinto thinks she would have made it, too. She had the talent, the gift and the big personality.
She also wanted to honor her Russian background, finding classical music that was “very mature for such a little girl” to skate to, Pinto said. Olivia’s mother, Olesya Taylor, who also died in the crash, was a pediatrician in Russia and “gave it all up” to support her dreams.
Olivia is survived by her father, Andrew, and her sister, Anna Valery, in Alexandria, Virginia. The Ion International Training Center held a memorial Saturday at 11 a.m.
Kasinof and Olivia were often on the ice together. They shared a coach for the last year and a half, Kasinof said. Olivia worked hard and was an avid competitor. She could be struggling the day before the competition, but would nail her jumps the day of, Kasinof said.
Kasinof said Olivia’s double axel had improved significantly, too — a major milestone in figure skating.
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