2026 Winter Olympics: Ilia Malinin, Minion and Milan’s most emotional moment in men’s figure skating

It is impossible to imagine what American figure skater Maxim Naumov has been through in the last 12 months.

Just over a year ago, their parents, former world champion pairs skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were among 67 people killed in a plane crash in Washington, D.C. 28 of those on the flight were athletes, coaches or parents affiliated with U.S. figure skating.

Naumov said his dream of making Team USA was one of the last things he talked about with his family before they were killed.

After her performance, she told the BBC: “They are my superheroes, my role models and my biggest support system. I wanted to make them proud here.”

“My dad said: ‘Everything leading up to the Olympics is training’. I can’t put into words how much I feel what he said. Also, to step into this event, words really aren’t enough, I wish I could make them proud.”

He made it to the Games and performed Frederic Chopin’s Nocturne No. She finished second on the ice by dancing to 20 songs.

After a slight slip on his triple axel, Naumov regained his composure and skated a technically sound routine.

When he finished, the 24-year-old stared at the sky on his knees with tears in his eyes as the arena exploded. The cameras caught him with a big smile, perhaps saying “thank you” to those in the arena and elsewhere.

And that was good enough for the judges, who gave Naumov a season-best score of 85.65 for his performance; This was enough to break into the top 24 and the free skate rankings on Friday.

When the scores came in, Naumov kept a photo of his late parents with him, taken when he was a young child.

“I take it everywhere I go,” she said of the photo of herself holding hands with her parents while standing next to a skating rink. “It’s in my bag, so it’s literally right here in my heart.

“They love being here, being with me, looking at the scores together and saying, ‘Look what we just did!’ They deserve to say “