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Just one year after losing his parents in a tragic plane crash, figure skater Maxim Naumov is heading to the Winter Olympics to represent the United States.
Naumov, 24, was officially named to the U.S. Olympic team, which will compete in the Milano Cortina games starting Feb. 6. He was among three men named to the figure skating squad, including Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev.
Naumov unfortunately lost his parents, 1994 World Figure Skating pairs champions Evgenia “Zhenya” Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, after an American Airlines plane collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 29, 2025.
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Maxim Naumov holds a photograph of his parents in the kiss & cry cry after competing in the Championship Men Free Skating during the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships at Enterprise Center on Jan. 10, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
There were 67 lives lost in the tragic crash, with 28 of those being among the figuring skating community. Naumov’s parents were among many traveling back from Wichita, Kansas — the site of the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp.
Naumov was in Wichita for the camp, but he wasn’t on the flight.
Three days before being named to the U.S. Olympic team, Naumov was emotional after skating in their honor at the U.S. Championships, where he held up a picture of himself as a three-year-old boy with his parents on either side of him.
“Sharing the vulnerability with the audience and me feeling their energy back has been something I remember for the rest of my life,” Naumov said to reporters after his skate.
Maxim Naumov competes in the Championship Men Free Skating during the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships at Enterprise Center on Jan. 10, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
His parents were his coaches as he grew into a potential Olympian. But following their death, Naumov didn’t know if he would even try making the team.
But he stayed true to the goal they always had together, and it’s come to fruition.
“It’s what my parents and I — one of our last conversations was about exactly that, and you know, it would mean the world to me to do that. That’s what we’re fighting for,” Naumov said last Thursday.
Maxim Naumov of the United States performs during the Exhibition Gala at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 on March 30, 2025, at TD Garden in Boston, MA. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire)
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The goal has been checked. Now, Naumov will hope to medal in Italy next month.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.