ST. LOUIS, Mo. — It’s a perfectly routine photo, really, two proud parents holding the hands of their 2-year-old son, all of them on a skating rink in Connecticut. All of them are smiling, the little boy on white skates the widest of them all.
More than 20 years after that photo was taken, the boy — now grown and still skating, though on much more stylish blades — sat alone in St. Louis this week, staring silently at the photo. And then Maxim Naumov went out and skated one of the finest routines of his life, mouthing “thank you” to the heavens as he left the rink.
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One year ago, an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C., collided with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River, sending both aircraft plunging into the freezing water and killing all 67 people aboard both. The American Airlines flight carried dozens of members of the skating community returning from a developmental camp, including young skaters, coaches and parents. Among the lost: both of Maxim’s parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova — the other two smiling in that long-ago photo.
Now 24, Maxim suddenly faced life without his most cherished allies. Together, Vadim and Evgenia won the 1994 world championships, and emigrated to Connecticut soon afterward. They began teaching skating at the International Skating Center of Connecticut, they welcomed Maxim in August 2001, and a few years later, they all posed for that photo at the center together.
“They were beautiful people. They were so incredibly kind,” Maxim told Today last March. “I don’t have the strength or the passion or the drive, or the dedication of one person anymore. It’s three people.”
Maxim Naumov holds a photo of his parents while he waits for his scores after competing during the men’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. Naumov’s parents were killed in a plane crash in early 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
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The crash of American Airlines 5342 devastated the entire skating community, and the scars have barely healed. The tragedy happened just days after last year’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, adding extra resonance to this year’s competition. Throughout this week at the championships in St. Louis, the skating world has remembered those lost through moments of silence, tributes, even a table where fans can fold origami hearts in honor of the departed.
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Sadness and resolution culminated on Thursday night when Maxim took the ice for his short program, the first of two he’ll perform this weekend. The skating world is a small one, and virtually everyone in the audience at St. Louis’s Enterprise Center knew what he’d endured, knew how he’d struggled through long months of sadness and desolation, knew how he’d willed himself to return to ice, to return to greatness. To return to what he was meant to do.
He skated out to center ice and paused, his left hand lifted toward the sky. “Let’s go, Max!” a voice echoed, and then, for a brief moment, silence. The first notes of Chopin’s Nocturne No. 20 sounded, and Maxim began his routine. As the mournful, hopeful notes of Chopin’s classic resounded, Maxim executed with brilliance, the sound of his scraping skates punctuating every graceful move. He finished with a magnificent spin and ended up on his knees, earning an instant, resounding standing ovation. And as he skated off the rink, weaving among the waves of plushies thrown his way, he waved to the crowd and placed a hand on his heart.
Maxim Naumov competes during the men’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
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“Even at a time like this, having the opportunity to be here,” he later said, “just another example of how capable I am in really difficult times. It’s just more and more comforting to be here. I’m really proud of myself.”
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On the kiss and cry couch, waiting for his scores, Maxim held up and kissed that long-ago photo, and the audience resounded with sympathetic cheer. And when his score came up — 85.72, good enough to top the leaderboard after 11 skaters — the ovation only grew.
“I’m just thinking about them,” Maxim said afterwards, describing his thoughts in that moment. “Their smile, their laugh, what they say to me, their words. It all replays in my head, especially at times like this, and I love them.”
After Thursday’s short program, Maxim stood in fourth place — the pewter medal position, same as he’s won the last three years — behind Ilia Malinin, Tomoki Hiwatashi and Jason Brown. He’ll need to work hard to improve on last year’s position, and potentially even to make the Olympic team.
“It’s just really meaningful that he’s able to come out here … and do exactly what he wanted to do,” Malinin said Thursday night. “All of us support him. We’re here for his health, or support, anything that he needs.”
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Saturday night, Maxim will skate his long program to “In This Shirt” by The Irrepressibles, an ethereal, sorrowful song whose lyrics — “I’ve bled every day now, for a year, for a year” — mirror Maxim’s own pain.
“I find that in times of really difficult emotional stress, if you can just push yourself a little bit more and almost think, What if I can do it? What if, despite everything that happened to me, I can still go out there and do it?” he said. “That’s where you find strength, and that’s where you grow as a person. And that’s exactly what’s been getting me through every day.”
Only Malinin is guaranteed one of the United States’ three spots on the Olympic team. The other two are still very much up for grabs, with a variety of criteria factoring into the decision. A strong performance at the championships would go a long way toward making the Olympics, and Maxim knows it.
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“It’s the ultimate goal. It’s what my parents and I … one of our last conversations was exactly about that,” Maxim said Thursday night, still holding the family photo. “And it would mean the absolute world to me to do so.”
