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American figure skater Maxim Naumov gave an emotional performance in his Olympic debut Tuesday, honoring his late parents who died in a tragic plane crash last year.
There wasn’t a dry eye at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday night, as Naumov fulfilled a dream he had with his parents, former world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were among the 67 people killed when a military helicopter collided midair with American Airlines Flight 5342 in Washington DC in January 2025.
Naumov, 24, was expected to have little chance of even making the top 10 at this year’s Olympics, let alone winning a medal. But he put on quite a show that resulted in a standing ovation, as he looked up at the sky and said, “Look what we’ve done,” according to ESPN.
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Maxim Naumov of Team USA reacts after competing in the men’s single skating short program on day four of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy, on February 10, 2026. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
“I didn’t know if I was going to cry, smile or laugh,” Naumov said after his short program resulted in a score of 85.65, good for 12th place and qualifying him for the next round.
Naumov skated to “Nocturne No. 20” and couldn’t have been happier with his performance, knowing that his parents were with him in spirit.
FIGURE SKATER MAXIM NAUMOV MAKES THE US OLYMPIC TEAM ONE YEAR AFTER LOSING BOTH PARENTS IN A TRAGIC PLANE CRASH IN DC
“They have inspired me from day one, since we stepped on the ice together,” said Naumov, who held an old photo of him and his parents together on the ice in the kiss-and-cry zone after dedicating his performance to them.
Naumov’s parents were among a contingent of American figure skaters, coaches and family members who tragically died in the crash after leaving a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, after the 2025 national championships. Naumov was on an earlier flight.
Maxim Naumov of Team USA competes in the men’s single skating short program on day four of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy, on February 10, 2026. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Three days before being named to the U.S. Olympic team, Naumov became emotional after skating in his honor at the U.S. Championships, where he showed the same photo of himself as a 3-year-old boy with his parents on either side of him.
“Sharing vulnerability with the crowd and feeling them get their energy back has been something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Naumov told reporters after a skate that solidified his spot on the U.S. team. “It’s what my parents and I, one of our last conversations was exactly about that, and you know, it would mean a lot to me to do that. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
While taking the ice, Naumov said that being too technical in his performance was not the thought process.
His level of effort was the only thing that mattered, regardless of the outcome.
American Maxim Naumov holds a photo of his parents, who died in a plane crash last year, after competing in the men’s individual short program in figure skating during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 10, 2026. Naumov’s parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, died after a mid-air collision between an American Airlines plane and an army helicopter American in Washington DC on January 29. 2025. (WANG Zhao/AFP)
“I wasn’t thinking about executing anything perfect or anything like that. I wanted to go out and just give my heart. Leave it all out there. I have no regrets. And that’s exactly what I felt,” he said, according to ESPN.
Naumov will perform again during the men’s free skate on Friday night.
