When Maxim Naumov received his Team USA jacket at the 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis during Making the Team: Presented by Xfinity, the arena at Enterprise Center went still for a moment before erupting in applause. Everyone in the building understood the weight of what had just happened.

Less than a year earlier, Naumov's parents — Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, a pairs World champion duo who competed for Russia at the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games — were among those killed when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., in January 2025.

Naumov had spoken with his parents every single day. They had spoken about his dream of making the Olympic team together. Now, with a bronze medal at the 2026 U.S. Championships — the result that clinched his spot on the team — he had fulfilled a promise.

"They told me every day that they believed in me. Every single day. I just had to go out there and believe in myself the way they believed in me." — Maxim Naumov

Naumov trains at the Skating Club of Boston under coaches Vladimir Petrenko and Benoît Richaud. He had been a consistent presence on the U.S. senior circuit for several seasons but had never broken through to the top three at nationals. This season, he did it when it mattered most.

His free skate in St. Louis — a program he has described as a tribute to his parents — moved the judges, the audience and his fellow competitors. He was the last skater to take the ice in the final group and delivered a personal-best performance, landing five clean jumping passes and earning career-high component scores.

"My mom and dad — they sacrificed everything so I could be here. Not just here at nationals, but here in America, in this sport. I owe everything to them. This one's for them." — Maxim Naumov

Andrew Torgashev and Naumov also punched their tickets to Italy with the silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the 2026 U.S. Championships. Torgashev claimed his second consecutive silver medal, continuing a run that has seen him establish himself as the clear second man on the U.S. team behind Ilia Malinin.

In addition to competing at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Naumov now serves as director of the youth skating program his parents founded in Connecticut, honoring their legacy while pursuing his own dream. He finished 16th in the individual event in Milan — and said afterward that simply being on that ice, in that uniform, was everything.

For full results from the 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships, visit usfigureskating.org.