US skater Maxim Naumov makes Olympic debut 1 year after parents killed in DC crash

US figure skater Maxim Naumov he carried the memory of his dead parents at the Olympics on Tuesday night, presenting a touching, heartfelt short program Milan Cortina Games that fulfilled a dream they had shared for a long time.

His parentstwo former world champions, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were among 67 people killed – more than a dozen of them members of the figure skating community – when American Airlines Flight 5342 it broke in half A military helicopter approaches Ronald Reagan National Airport and crashes into the frigid Potomac River on Jan. 29, 2025.

One of the last conversations Naumov had with his parents was about what it would take to make the Olympics.

“I’ve been inspired by them since day 1, since we stepped on the ice together,” said Naumov, who brought an old photo of that time to the kiss-and-cry scene at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the little tyke standing between his parents as he stepped onto the ice for the first time, all three smiling for the camera.

“It’s not really thinking about them directly,” Naumov said, “but their presence. Feeling their presence. With every glide and step I made on the ice, I couldn’t help but feel their support, almost like a chess piece on a chess board.”

What makes one of the funniest stories of the Winter Games so special is the performance.

While a long shot to make the top 10 at the Olympics, there is very little place on the podium, the 24-year-old Naumov nevertheless had one of the best short programs of his career. She opened with a quad salchow as her godmother, Gretta Bogdan, watched from the stands, and followed with a triple axel and a triple lutz-triple toe loop to finish the routine.

As the last notes of Frederic Chopin’s “Nocturne No. 20” echoed in the arena, and the crowd stood up, Naumov slid to his knees and looked up at the sky, telling his parents: “Look at what we’ve done.”

“I didn’t know if I was going to cry, smile or laugh,” he said afterward, “and all I could do was look up at them. And man, I can’t believe what just happened. I think it’s going to take me a few hours or maybe a few weeks to figure it out.

His score of 85.65 was enough to get him through the short program, giving him another chance to sing when the men’s free skate takes place on Friday night.

The plane carrying Naumov’s parents was carrying 11 junior skaters, two other coaches and several family members who were attending a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, following the 2025 national championships.

Naumov’s parents were coaches at the Skating Club of Boston, which lost six members in a plane crash.

Naumov had flown out before, just after finishing fourth for the third year in a row.

“I can’t explain how difficult it was at the beginning, and month by month I try my best to keep a positive attitude, and focus every day, thank you, skating was a tool that really helped me overcome that,” Naumov told CBS News Boston last month during Olympic training at the Skating Club.

The idea of ​​fulfilling the Olympic dream he had with his parents drove him forward. And when he finished third at the American championships in January, his place was secured.

“To be honest,” Naumov said Tuesday night, “I wasn’t thinking about doing anything completely or anything like that. I just wanted to go out and just pour my heart out. Leave everything there. Don’t be sorry. And that’s exactly what I felt.”

“To deal with the tragedy that he faced, and as he said, get up and do the day. And that’s what he did. He did it one day at a time,” said Katharine Steeger, the skating team’s director of membership services. CBS Boston. “Making Max start off with an amazing skate for him, it’s just, there are no words.”

This is the first time since 2014 that the Skating Club of Boston has sent athletes to the Olympics. Along with Naumov, they also sent figure skating pair Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe.

In the crowd Tuesday, dozens of American flags waved as Naumov’s show came to an end. On one side of the arena, a fan held up a large banner that read, “Tomorrow’s Champions,” and carried the logo of the Boston Skating Club – “Tomorrow’s Champions” is the name of the skating school that his parents founded and Naumov now oversees.

“From the moment my name was announced during the warm-up to right before the skate,” said Naumov, “I felt it – just the crowd, the energy, the roar. It’s like a buzz, you know? In your body. I couldn’t help but just agree. Embrace that love.”