Naumov Earns 2026 Olympic Spot After Parents' Crash

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — Figure skater Maxim Naumov earned a spot on the U.S. team for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on Sunday, one year after his parents died in a midair collision over the Potomac River that claimed 67 lives, including many from the figure skating community.

The 24-year-old Naumov finished third at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships here, behind champion Ilia Malinin and runner-up Andrew Torgashev. His selection as one of three men's singles skaters capped an emotional weekend where he honored his late parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, former world champions in pairs skating who represented Russia at the 1994 and 1996 Olympics. The couple, who moved to the United States in 1998 and coached at the Skating Club of Boston, had encouraged their son's pursuit of Olympic glory. One of their final conversations focused on the steps needed for him to join them as an Olympian.

The tragedy unfolded last January when an American Airlines flight carrying Naumov's parents collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The plane was en route from a development camp in Nashville following the 2024 U.S....