Devastated Team USA ice skater misses out on Winter Olympics medal a year on from parents’ plane crash death
U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov may not have won a medal, but he made his late parents proud as he competed on the Winter Olympics stage on Friday night.
The 24-year-old lost his parents, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were among the 67 people killed last year when American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into a military helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport and fell into the dark depths of the Potomac River.
More than a year after their deaths, Naumov completed his Winter Games debut with an emotional free skate on Friday night.
It wasn’t a perfect program. Far from it. Naumov fell twice on quadruple salchows and was unbalanced throughout. But it wasn’t the total score that mattered.
Combining the short program and free skate, Naumov finished 20th overall with a total of 223.36 points, but emphasized that he was proud of his performance after the emotional difficulties of last year.
‘Honestly, I’m proud,’ Naumov said afterwards. ‘I’m proud of the journey I’ve gone through to get to this point. This is what I’m looking at right now. Getting here was an indescribable thing, being an introvert, getting up every day when I didn’t want to, and getting through the hard times and the uncertainty of it all. I can have some perspective on this. And this year I’ve gained a lot of perspective in many areas of my life, and skating is no different.
American figure skater Maxim Naumov placed 20th in the Winter Olympics men’s single skating
The 24-year-old completed the free skate program with 223.36 points, falling twice.
‘So yes,’ said Naumov, ‘there were some mistakes today, but man, I’m happy and proud to stand here today, having gone through all the difficulties of this year and still standing on my feet and continuing to move forward.’
Just as he did after his short program, Naumov held a photo of his late parents as he awaited the score. After his announcement, he kissed the photo that showed him on the ice with his family when he was three years old.
Naumov headed to the Boston area after finishing fourth at the national championships in Wichita, Kansas, last January; Their parents, world doubles champions turned coaches, stayed behind to attend a youth development camp.
Their plane was carrying more than two dozen members of the figure skating community when it crashed.
Vadim and Evgenia became world champions in figure skating in pairs in 1994 and were the ones who introduced Naumov to the sport and had a significant impact on his career until his death.
He wanted to realize a dream he shared with his parents by participating in the Olympics; They finished fifth at the 1992 Albertville Games and fourth at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.
After the championships in January, Naumov said of the grieving process: ‘Once a week, in whatever capacity, I try to create that space with them.
While waiting for his score, Naumov held and kissed the photo of his late parents
Naumov said he was proud of his performance after the emotional difficulties of the year
‘It could be a photo that speaks to someone about them. It could be anything. “It was therapeutic in a way.”
To this day, Naumov wears a gold chain with a cross around his neck, which he received on the day of his baptism. On her finger is a white gold ring with a single diamond, which her father once wore on her little finger and passed on to her a few years ago.
‘I mean, there are parts of life that are hard, you know? But I think in these difficult times and moments like this, I still think it’s a great privilege to talk about this story and share it,” he said in January.
‘My intention is to share this as much as possible, because not only do my family deserve all the praise and recognition and the fact that I wouldn’t be here without them, but also to inspire other athletes or people in general to know that there is a way. No matter what, there is a way.’
Naumov’s US teammate Ilia Malinin, who was the favorite for the gold medal, also missed out on a medal after suffering a collapse in the free skate that caused him to fall from podium contention to eighth.
