Rhode Lee Michelson (March 9, 1943 – 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 ...

. She placed third at the 1961 U.S. Championships, earning her the chance to compete a month later at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. A hip injury forced Rhode to withdraw from the North American Championships in early February 1961. She was killed along with the entire 1961 United States Figure Skating team on February 15, 1961, when

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 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 ...

, Belgium, en route to the World Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czechoslovakia. She was just 17 years old when she died.

Results

* N. = novice, J. = junior

External links

U.S. Figure Skating biography
* American female single skaters 1943 births 1961 deaths Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1961 20th-century American women {{US-figure-skating-bio-stub