It is impossible to imagine what American skater Maxim Naumov has been through in the last 12 months.
Just over a year ago, his parents – former world champion pairs skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova – were among 67 people killed in a plane crash in Washington DC. Of those on board the flight, 28 were athletes, coaches or parents connected to US figure skating.
Naumov said that his dream to make Team USA was one of the last things he spoke about with his parents before they were killed.
“They are my superheroes, my role models, and my biggest support system. I just wanted to make them proud here,” he told the BBC after his performance.
“My dad said: ‘Everything is practice until it is the Olympics’. I can’t describe to you in words how much I just felt what he said. Also, there are truly no words for being able to step up to the occasion, I just wish that I made them proud.”
He made it to the Games, and was second on the ice on Tuesday, dancing to Nocturne No. 20 by Frederic Chopin.
After a slight slip on his triple axel, Naumov regained composure and skated a technically solid routine.
As he finished, the 24-year-old looked to the sky on his knees with tears in his eyes as the arena erupted. With a huge smile, cameras captured him saying “thank you” – perhaps to those both inside the arena, and in another place.
And it was good enough for the judges, who awarded Naumov a season best of 85.65 points for the performance – enough for a spot in the top 24 and a place in the free skate on Friday.
As the scores came in, Naumov held up a picture of his late parents with him as a young child.
“I bring it everywhere that I go,” he said of the image, which showed him holding hands with his parents while stood next to an ice rink. “It is in my bag, so it is literally right here on my heart.
“They deserve to be here, to be right next to me, to look up at the scores together and say: ‘Look at what we just did!'”
