Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Peggy Fleming and 2002 bobsled champion Vonetta Flowers sustained minor injuries Sunday after they were involved in a crash while traveling with Vice-President Joe Biden’s motorcade. Mike Eruzione, who was captain of the US Olympic Hockey team that won the Miracle on Ice game against the Soviet Union, was also in the van. He walked away uninjured.
The motorcade was en route to a hockey game in Vancouver when the van carrying Fleming, Flowers, and Eruzione was rear-ended. Biden was riding with a physician who was able to treat everyone on scene. All injuries sustained were minor.
“It was a big, huge van. We were thrown really hard and Vonetta hit her head on the seat cushion in front of her…It was just a really jarring twist of the neck, but I think we’re going to be OK,” Fleming said of the weekend ordeal. “I think I’ll have a stiff neck tomorrow and stiff muscles.”
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but primary reports blame either poor road conditions or an oil slick.