Dudley "Dud" Shaw Richards (February 4, 1932 – February 15, 1961) was an American

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

who competed in men's singles and pairs. In singles, he won the bronze medal at the 1953

United States Figure Skating Championships The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...

and finished sixth at that year's

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

. In pairs, he once skated with future Olympic gold medalist

Tenley Albright Tenley Emma Albright (born July 18, 1935) is an American former figure skater and surgeon. She is the 1956 Olympic champion, the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, the 1953 and 1955 World Champion, the 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and the ...

, before later teaming up with Maribel Owen. After winning the bronze medal at Nationals in 1958 and 1959, the pair captured the silver in 1960 and finished tenth at that year's

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

. In 1961, Owen and Richards won the gold medal at the U.S. Championships and finished second at the

North American Figure Skating Championships The North American Figure Skating Championships were a former elite figure skating competition for skaters from the United States and Canada. It was a biennial (every two years) competition held between 1923 and 1971, with locations alternating ...

. Away from the ice, Richards was a graduate of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and had spent time in the Army. He was also a real estate executive and a longtime friend (and college roommate) of future Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

. Richards was en route to the World Championships in 1961 when the plane he was on,

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to B ...

, crashed near

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, killing all on board including the entire U.S. figure skating team. He was 29 at the time of his death.

Results

(men's singles) (pairs with Maribel Owen)

External links

U.S. Figure Skating biography

* American male pair skaters American male single skaters Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics 1961 deaths Olympic figure skaters of the United States Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Harvard University alumni 1932 births Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1961 Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island 20th-century American people {{US-figure-skating-bio-stub