Naumov was announced as one of three male ice skaters competing for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Olympic Games. Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev were the other two men to secure the spots on the men’s team.
“We did it! God is good,” Maxim declared while celebratingthe news. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family, and it’s what I’ve been thinking about since I was 5 years old… So I can’t say into words how much this means to me.”
While further reflecting on the loss of his parents, Naumov stated, “I really hope that my mom watched because she never used to watch me skate. But they say we’re proud of you, but the job’s not finished, we’re just getting started.”
Days before the announcement, Maxm Naumov broke down in tears after receiving his short program score. He was holding a photo of himself at 3 years old with his parents.
“Sharing the vulnerability with the audience and me feeling their energy back has been something I remember for the rest of my life,” he said after the competition.
Maxim Naumov’s parents, who were also his ice skating coaches, were among those who perished in the Jan. 29, 2025, Washington D.C. plane crash.
The couple was on board American Airlines Flight 5342 when it collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. A total of 67 people died in the accident. Among the dead were 28 members of the figure skating community.
Naumov’s parents were heading back to Washington, D.C., after attending the U.S. Figure Skating National Development camp in Wichita, Kansas. Naumov had also been in Wichita and placed fourth in the senior men’s competition at the U.S. National Championship days before the tragic accident.
Naumov and Shishkova were 1994 World Figure Skating pairs champions. They competed at their first Olympics, the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, placing fifth. They placed fourth at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
The couple represented Russia and the Unified Team at multiple Olympics before moving to the U.S. to coach. They married in 1995 and retired from ice skating in 1998.
Despite questioning whether he should try for the Olympics after his parents’ deaths, Maxim pushed through. “It’s the ultimate goal,” he said, per Associated Press.“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. So that’s what we’re fighting for.”