Winter Olympics 2026: The memory – and resilience – of Maxim Naumov’s late parents push him forward
It was mere hours after Maxim Naumov, the American figure skater, had been told by the U.S. selection committee that he had, indeed, been selected for the Olympic team for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
“Oh my God,” he said as he sat down for an interview with Olympics.com. “I’ve got to get used to those words, ‘Maxim Naumov, Olympian’.“
To say it has been a harrowing journey for Naumov, 24, would be an understatement. Last January, his parents – the 1994 pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov – were killed in the tragic Flight 5342 plane crash, making them two of some 29 members of the greater U.S. skating community to perish.
In his moment of deep sorrow, Naumov has been lifted up by the thing that bonded he and his parents so deeply: Figure skating.
“The thing that has brought me the most joy this year is the entire figure skating community,” Naumov said. “I don’t know what I do without it, honestly. I’m so grateful and thankful to be a part of this community, having people by my side and guiding me and helping me achieve the things that I want to do has made the biggest difference.”
A day earlier, there wasn’t a dry eye in the arena at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, when Naumov had fought tooth and nail to deliver a performance that would earn him the bronze medal at the U.S. Championships – and that spot on Team USA.
It was something he had long discussed with his parents, who had become respected coaches in the sport.
“Whenever I make a decision, it seems like I’m talking with them and discussing what the right path is,” Naumov explained. “I feel their presence in my decision making and my overall mentality for how I approach things. I always feel like they have my back. That’s something I feel in my heart; I feel it in my body, in my brain, everywhere, you know.
“Even still, now, they’re helping and guiding me to where we need to go.”
