American figure skater Maxim Naumov arrived at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as a part of Team USA. His debut came one year after a devastating personal loss, following a season in which his determination and resilience were tested.
In Milan, he delivered two emotional skates that drew strong support from the crowd and the entire figure skating community.
Maxim Naumov Talks About His Performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics
In a recent interview, the American expressed his thoughts on his performance, saying his parents would feel ashamed looking down on their son. Naumov skated to Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne No. 20 and delivered a season‑best performance with 85.65 points, securing 14th rank in the short program. He then free-skated on “In This Shirt” by The Irrepressibles, which had far more errors.
Despite falling twice early in his performance and other technical errors, he refused to give in and finished with a strong final pose that brought another warm reaction from the crowd. He scored 137.71 points in the free skate on his Olympic debut, securing a combined total of 223.36 and ranking 20th overall, with a story that resonated far beyond the standings.
Following his emotional performance, Naumov spoke about how he viewed the night and the road that had led him there. “Oh man, ups and downs, but really so minimal in the grand scheme of things. I’ve been able to have an idea of what perspective is, kind of taking a step back from skating for many different reasons.”
Speaking on the personal front, he said, “I’m very proud of myself for the fact that I was able to go out here and make the dreams that my family and I had into a reality. There were, of course, some technical mistakes in the free, but I’m just so happy that I was able to give it my all, truly, with no regrets, and I hope that they’re proud of me and hope people can be inspired also by what I was able to do here.”
He then talked about his closing pose during his free skate performance, explaining, “That’s a very strong final pose for me. Every time I hit it in practice, I do feel strong, but when you finish your Olympic free program debut, it hits different. I throw that fist in there, and it’s almost a sign of what it took to get here. The resilience and the strength and the courage that it take it took. All the difficult days and pushing through and making this become a reality. I am proud.”
When the interviewer asked what his parents would have said to him seeing the performance, Naumov got emotional and answered, “I know my dad would be talking to me about the two sows, obviously, and how we could change a few things to make it better for next time. But man, I just hope that they’re proud of me.
I hope that they would say that ‘We love you, we’re proud of you, the strength that you put out, it means a lot to us as a family, and we hope that you can continue onwards and just keep doing what you’re doing, and as long as you try your best and don’t hold back and have no regrets. It’s all gonna be okay.'”
These words by Naumov reflect how he used his emotions to fuel his and his family’s dreams and perform on the Olympic ice.
Naumov’s parents, 1994 world pairs champions and longtime coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were among 67 people killed on January 29, 2025, when American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. They were returning from a U.S. Figure Skating development camp, along with more than two dozen others from the sport’s community.
In interviews since the crash, Naumov has described early days when even getting out of bed felt impossible, and said he initially questioned whether he wanted to keep skating at all.
As time passed, he learned to move forward through the sport that brought his family together. He returned to training, sustained the youth program his parents had built, and committed to the dream they had seen before their deaths. That work led to a bronze medal at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, which secured his place on the U.S. Olympic team alongside Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev.
In Milan, even though Naumov could not secure an Olympic podium finish, he delivered a season‑best short program and finished 20th in the men’s event.
