Maxim Naumov makes Olympic debut one year after parents killed in midair collision

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U.S. fig skater Maxim Naumov carried the representation of his precocious parents with him to the Olympics connected Tuesday night, delivering an emotional, heartfelt abbreviated programme astatine the Milan Cortina Games that fulfilled a imagination they had agelong shared together.

His parents, erstwhile pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were among the 67 radical killed — much than 2 twelve of them members of the fig skating assemblage — erstwhile American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into a subject chopper connected attack to Ronald Reagan National Airport and fell into the icy Potomac River connected Jan. 29, 2025.

One of the past conversations Naumov had with his parents was astir what it would instrumentality to marque the Olympics.

"I've been inspired by them since time 1, ever since we stepped connected the crystal together," said Naumov, who brought an aged photograph of that infinitesimal to the kiss-and-cry astatine the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the small tyke lasting betwixt his parents arsenic helium stepped ft connected the crystal for the archetypal time, the 3 of them each smiling for the camera.

"It's not needfully reasoning astir them specifically," Naumov said, "but their presence. Feeling their presence. With each glide and measurement that I made connected the ice, I couldn't assistance but consciousness their support, astir similar a chess portion connected a chess board."

What made 1 of the feel-good stories of the Winter Games adjacent much peculiar was the performance.

While a agelong changeable to marque the apical 10 astatine the Olympics, overmuch little onshore connected the podium, the 24-year-old Naumov nevertheless had 1 of the champion abbreviated programs of his career. He opened with a quad salchow arsenic his godmother, Gretta Bogdan, watched from the stands, and helium followed up with a triple axel and a triple lutz-triple toed loop to decorativeness retired the program.

As the past notes of "Nocturne No. 20" by Frederic Chopin reverberated done the arena, and the assemblage roseate to its feet, Naumov slid to a halt connected his knees and looked to the sky, telling his parents: "Look astatine what we've done."

"I didn't cognize if I was going to cry, grin oregon laugh," helium said afterward, "and each I could bash was look up astatine them. And man, I inactive can't judge what conscionable happened. I deliberation it's going to instrumentality maine a fewer hours oregon possibly a fewer weeks to know."

His people of 85.65 was capable to marque it done the abbreviated program, giving him different accidental to execute erstwhile the men's escaped skate takes spot Friday night.

The level carrying Naumov's parents besides had aboard 11 young skaters, 2 different coaches and respective household members who had been attending a improvement campy successful Wichita, Kansas, pursuing the 2025 nationalist championships.

Naumov's parents were coaches astatine the Skating Club of Boston, which mislaid six members successful the midair crash.

Naumov had flown retired earlier, soon aft helium had finished successful 4th spot for the 3rd consecutive year.

"I can't picture however hard it was astatine the precise beginning, and done period aft period of truly conscionable trying my hardest to support a affirmative mindset, and absorption connected time to day, thankfully, skating became a instrumentality that really helped maine flooded that," Naumov told CBS News Boston past period during his Olympic grooming astatine the Skating Club.

The thought of fulfilling the Olympic imagination helium harbored with his parents pushed him on. And erstwhile helium finished 3rd astatine the U.S. championships successful January, his spot was all-but secured.

"To beryllium honest," Naumov said Tuesday night, "I wasn't reasoning astir executing thing perfectly oregon thing similar that. I wanted to spell retired determination and conscionable springiness my bosom out. Leave everything retired there. Have nary regrets. And that's precisely what I felt."

"To woody with the calamity that he's dealt with, and similar helium said, get up and bash the day. And that's what he's done. He's done 1 time astatine a time," Katharine Steeger, the skating club's manager of rank services, told CBS Boston. "To person Max commencement america disconnected with specified an astonishing skate for him, it's just, there's truly nary words."

This marks the archetypal clip since 2014 that the Skating Club of Boston has sent athletes to the Olympics. Along with Naumov, they besides sent figure skating pair Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe.

In the assemblage Tuesday, dozens of American flags waved erstwhile Naumov's programme came to a conclusion. At 1 extremity of the arena, a instrumentality held up a large emblem that read, "Tomorrow's Champions," and carried the logo of the Skating Club of Boston — "Tomorrow's Champions" is the sanction of the skating schoolhouse determination that his parents founded and Naumov present oversees.

"From the clip that my sanction was announced successful the warm-up to close earlier the skate," Naumov said, "I felt it — conscionable the crowd, the energy, the roar. It's similar a buzz, you know? In your body. I couldn't assistance but conscionable clasp it. Embrace that love."

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