From Tragedy to the Olympic Ice: Maxim Naumov Skates His First Games One Year After Losing Both Parents — and the Emotional Moment Has Fans Revisiting the Video of Him Skating Beside His Fathe

The Team USA Figure Skater Competed In The Qualifiers For Men’s Single Figure Skating

Today, Feb. 10, 24-year-old figure skater Maxim Naumov made his Olympic debut.

It’s a lifelong dream come true for him, but one that is also bittersweet.

Just over a year ago, on Jan. 29, 2025, Maxim’s parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were killed along with 65 others when a military helicopter collided with an airplane over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

In all, 28 of the passengers were from the figure skating community.

Maxim’s parents were also his coaches, with his mother and father having won the 1994 World Figure Skating Championship in pair skating for Russia.

Speaking with the Today Show about the loss of his parents, Maxim said, “One thing they always told me was, ‘Everything is practice until it’s the Olympics.’ This is all to get ready for the Olympics.”

Now, he’s seeing through those years of “practice” as he competes on the world stage for Team USA.

Overcoming Grief As He Competes For Team USA

In a spotlight written on Maxim by The New York Times, he recalled how the death of his parents was devastating, but also a moment to center himself with his priorities, saying, “All I wanted to do in that moment was lay in my bed or lay on my couch and just rot, essentially. And it was a moment where I knew that the complete opposite of that was the path.”

Powerfully, the Times wrote:

“He just wishes he could remember how it felt to be coached by his parents in the early years, when they taught him how to jump like a cricket and spin like a tiny tornado. Even back then, they talked about the Olympics every single day — and continued to mention it to him every single day moving forward.”

Since the death of his parents, he has brought a photo of him as a young boy with his parents to many of his competitions, and, now, even to the Olympics. Occasionally, he can be seen at the “kiss and cry” zone kissing the photo as he awaits results from the judges of competitions.

Watch his performance on the NBC Sports YouTube channel, here.

Watch the Today Show’s feature on Maxim Naumov ahead of his Feb. 10 Olympic debut, here: