A Short Program for the Ages by Maxim Naumov
Maxim Naumov’s journey is one of the most poignant stories in figure skating as we head into the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, and his short program at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis will go down as one of the most memorable of all time.
Maxim skated a short program to a tender Nocturne that felt like a quiet conversation with the audience. Every step, every gesture carried the weight of profound loss: his parents, the legendary pair team of Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova—1994 World Pair Champions—had tragically died just a year earlier in the mid-air collision over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.
The crash involved a commercial passenger jet that collided with a military aircraft in the busy airspace around Reagan National Airport; the plane went down in the river with no survivors among the key victims. Among the 64 lives lost were 28 members of the figure skating community, heading home after skating events and a development camp in Wichita, Kansas.
Vadim and Evgenia had switched flights last-minute to get home sooner to their son. Those two names—Shishkova and Naumov—still resonate deeply in the skating world. They were known for elegant, powerful programs, innovative throw jumps, and musicality that made their performances timeless. After retiring, they immigrated to the United States, became respected coaches, and devoted themselves to developing young talent, especially Maxim, whom they coached personally from his earliest days on the ice.
In St. Louis, Maxim honored them with a clean triple Axel, a beautiful combination, and footwork that spoke volumes without needing words. The program earned 85.72 points and placed him fourth after the short—close enough to the podium to keep the dream alive.
He made good on that promise in the free skate, delivering a powerful, emotionally charged performance worth 163.44 points. The arena rose as one when he finished. His combined total of 249.16 lifted him to third overall—his first senior national podium after three consecutive fourth-place finishes—and secured the final men’s singles spot on the U.S. Olympic team behind Ilia Malinin (gold) and Andrew Torgashev (silver).
Men’s Skating Schedule at the Olympics
Next month in Milano Cortina, the men’s individual competition will feature the short program on Tuesday, February 10 (starting at 18:30 local time) and the free skate on Friday, February 13 (starting at 19:00 local time), both at the Milano Ice Skating Arena. Maxim will carry his parents’ legacy with him onto that Olympic ice, and the entire skating community will be watching and cheering.
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