American figure skater Maxim Naumov makes Olympic debut a year after his parents died in a mid-air collision in D.C.

American figure skater Maxim Naumov He carried with him the memory of his deceased parents to the Olympic Games on Tuesday night, offering an emotional and heartfelt short program in the Milan Cortina Games that fulfilled a dream they had shared together for a long time.

his parentsformer world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were among the 67 people who died (more than two dozen of them members of the figure skating community) when American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into a military helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan National Airport and fell into the icy Potomac River on January 29, 2025.

One of the last conversations Naumov had with his parents was about what it would take to get to the Olympics.

“They have inspired me since day one, since we stepped on the ice together,” said Naumov, who brought an old photograph of that kiss-and-cry moment at the Milan Ice Skating Arena, the little boy standing between his parents as he set foot on the ice for the first time, all three of them smiling for the camera.

“It’s not necessarily about thinking about them specifically,” Naumov said, “but about their presence. Feeling their presence. With every slide and step I took on the ice, I couldn’t help but feel their support, almost like a chess piece on a chessboard.”

What made one of the enjoyable stories of the Winter Games even more special was the performance.

While he had a good chance of making the top 10 at the Olympics, let alone making the podium, the 24-year-old Naumov had one of the best short programs of his career. She opened with a quad salchow while her godmother, Gretta Bogdan, watched from the stands, and followed with a triple axel and a triple lutz-triple toe loop to end the program.

As the last notes of Frederic Chopin’s “Nocturne No. 20” echoed through the arena and the crowd rose to its feet, Naumov stood on his knees and looked up at the sky, telling his parents, “Look what we’ve done.”

“I didn’t know if I was going to cry, smile or laugh,” he said later, “and all I could do was look at them. And man, I still can’t believe what just happened. I think it’ll take me a few hours or maybe a few weeks to find out.”

His score of 85.65 was enough to get him through the short program, giving him another chance to perform when the men’s free skate takes place on Friday night.

The plane carrying Naumov’s parents also had on board 11 young skaters, two other coaches and several family members who had attended a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, following the 2025 national championships.

Naumov’s parents were coaches at the Boston Skating Club. who lost six members in the plane crash.

Naumov had gone flying earlier, shortly after finishing in fourth place for the third year in a row.

“I can’t describe how difficult it was at first, and after month after month of trying so hard to keep a positive mindset and focus on the day to day, fortunately, skating became a tool that really helped me get through that,” Naumov told News themezone Boston last month during his Olympic training at the Skating Club.

The idea of ​​fulfilling the Olympic dream that he harbored with his parents prompted him to move forward. And when he finished third at the U.S. championships in January, his spot was all but assured.

“To be honest,” Naumov said Tuesday night, “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.”

“To deal with the tragedy that he’s faced and, like he said, get up and finish the day. And that’s what he’s done. He’s done it day by day,” said Katharine Steeger, director of member services for the skating club. News Boston. “For Max to start us off with such an incredible skate for him, there really are no words.”

This is the first time since 2014 that the Skating Club of Boston has sent athletes to the Olympic Games. Along with Naumov, they also sent figure skating couple Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe.

Among the crowd Tuesday, dozens of American flags waved as Naumov’s program came to a close. At one end of the arena, a fan held a large flag that read “Champions of Tomorrow” and bore the logo of the Boston Skating Club. “Champions of Tomorrow” is the name of the skating school his parents founded and which Naumov now oversees.

“From the moment my name was announced in warmup until right before the skate,” Naumov said, “I felt it, just the crowd, the energy, the roar. It’s like a buzz, you know? In your body. I couldn’t help but hug it. Embrace that love.”