Maxim Naumov, who lost parents in crash, makes U.S. Olympics team

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ST. LOUIS – For all of his life, figure skater Maxim Naumov had heard his parents talk about the Olympics. Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova competed for Russia in two Olympic Games. Later, as coaches in the United States, they dreamed their son would someday be an Olympian, too.

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It was one of the last conversations the three had before Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova died Jan. 29 when an American Airlines plane crashed into an Army helicopter above the Potomac River. On Sunday, the moment arrived: Maxim Naumov was selected as one of the three men’s singles skaters on the U.S. team for next month’s Milan-Cortina Olympics.

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The announcement came at 1:37 p.m. Central time during a skating exhibition at Enterprise Center. Naumov crossed himself three times before gliding onto the ice, dressed all in black, as the crowd – which pulled hard for him all week at the U.S. figure skating championships – stood and cheered. The night before, he had won the bronze medal and seemingly had been told he had earned a spot on the team over two-time Olympian Jason Brown. But the moment when his name was called and he stood on the ice moved him. He buried his face in his hands and wept.

“We did it,” he said when asked what his parents would say if they were watching.

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The question of whether Naumov would make the team was one of two that loomed over nationals. The other: whether Alisa Efimova, half of the United States’ best pairs team, would secure citizenship before the selection announcement. (Efimova was born in Finland.) U.S. Olympic officials and executives from the Skating Club of Boston, of which Efimova is a member, were pushing hard, going as far as to appeal directly to President Donald Trump to get her a passport at the last minute.

One did not come, however, so she and her husband/pairs partner, Misha Mitrofanov, were ineligible to be on the U.S. team – as was the pairs duo of Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman, bronze medalists at nationals, because Parkman, who was born in Russia, also does not have a passport. That let silver medalists Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea and fourth-place finishers Emily Chan and Spencer Howe make the Olympic team.

Most of the other selections were obvious. Ilia Malinin, the world’s best men’s skater, overcame his instinct for showmanship and performed a modest version of his free skate Saturday to conserve energy for the Olympics. He still won the national title, his fourth in a row. Runner-up Andrew Torgashev was the other clear men’s choice.

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Also certain were the women who would be picked. Reigning world champion Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn, who has won the past three national titles, came into the week certain of making the team. Isabeau Levito, the 2023 national champion and a silver medalist at the world championships in 2024, seemed likely to be chosen. After two strong skates secured the bronze medal, she became the obvious third choice.

The ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates has won the past three world titles and was an obvious choice. So, too, were the ice dance teams of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko.

In the end, U.S. Figure Skating officials had few difficult decisions to make. The hardest choice probably was the decision to exclude Brown, a 31-year-old who came into nationals as nearly a lock to make the team, only to collapse in Saturday’s free skate. Beloved for his artistry and appreciated for his consistency, Brown simply needed to skate a solid program and finish in the top three or four. Instead, his free skate was filled with so many stumbles and missed jumps that he finished 12th in that competition and eighth overall.

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Beyond Naumov, the team of Zingas and Kolesnik might be the most intriguing of the Americans’ newer faces. Zingas is a Michigan native who previously represented Cyprus; Kolesnik is from Ukraine. He arrived in the United States in 2017, well before the Russian invasion began in 2022, but his family has been affected by the war. Last year, he told NBC Sports that his older brother is in the Ukrainian army and his father lost his family business.

But Naumov was the story of the day. He cried several times Sunday as he skated and received two standing ovations.

“I can’t say the words,” he said when asked what it meant to be going to the Olympics.

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