Maxim Naumov Honors Late Parents in Emotional Olympic Figure Skating Debut
Figure skater Maxim Naumov made an intensely emotional Olympic debut at the Milano Cortina Games on Tuesday, delivering a poignant performance just over a year after his parents were tragically killed in a devastating plane crash. The 24-year-old athlete spoke movingly of feeling their guiding presence throughout his entire routine on the ice.
"They Were Guiding Me"
"I felt like I was guided by them today," Naumov told reporters after his performance. "With every glide and step that I made on the ice, I couldn't help but feel their support. They were guiding me from one element to another." He concluded his skate on his knees, looking skyward in a moment of profound emotion. "I didn't know if I was going to cry, smile or laugh, and all I could do was look up and say, 'Look what we just did.'"
Tragic Loss of Champion Parents
Naumov's parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were 1994 world champions in pairs figure skating who later transitioned to coaching careers. They were among the 67 people who died in January 2025 when an American Airlines flight collided mid-air with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C. The catastrophic crash claimed the lives of 28 figure skating coaches, young athletes, and parents who were returning from a development camp.
Childhood Photograph as Tribute
As the 24-year-old awaited his score, he held up a cherished childhood photograph of himself holding hands with his parents, prompting emotional cheers from spectators at the Milano Ice Skating Arena. "It's the picture of me the first time on the ice when I was three years old. I carry them so I never, ever forget," he explained, planting a kiss on the image. "They're right here in my cross-body bag, so it's literally here on my chest, on my heart."
He added with deep feeling, "I wanted them to sit in the kiss-and-cry with me and experience the moment, look up at the scores, and just live in this moment. They deserve to be sat right next to me like they always have been."
Poignant Performance to Chopin
Skating to Frederic Chopin's "Nocturne No. 20," Naumov opened with a technically demanding quadruple Salchow, finishing his program looking upwards and smiling before covering his eyes in a moment of overwhelming emotion. Despite initially questioning whether to continue competing after the profound tragedy, he found comfort and purpose in returning to the ice.
He expressed satisfaction with his score of 85.65, stating, "I just wanted to go out there and put my heart out, really leave everything out there, have no regrets at all after the end of that programme, and that's exactly what I felt." Naumov, who said he "couldn't be more proud of myself and my team," will compete again on Friday in the free skate, where the top 24 performers from the short program will vie for Olympic medals.
Legislative Response to Tragedy
The crash that claimed Naumov's parents was the deadliest US aviation disaster since November 2001. Last week, a bipartisan group of US House lawmakers announced plans to introduce legislation addressing safety recommendations in the wake of the incident, with leading members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Armed Services Committee vowing to work "expeditiously on legislation to ensure a crash like this can never happen again."
