Maxim Naumov: Skating Through Grief, Standing on Faith

July 24, 2026

Maxim Naumov: Skating Through Grief, Standing on Faith

Some losses arrive so suddenly that the world seems to stop turning. On January 29, 2025, an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter above the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft. Among them were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov — former world champion pairs skaters, longtime coaches, and the parents of a young American figure skater named Maxim .

A Collision That Changed Everything

Evgenia and Vadim weren't just Maxim's parents. They were his coaches, the two people who had shaped his life on the ice since childhood. Their deaths devastated the U.S. skating community and left their 24-year-old son facing a grief most of us can't imagine — made harder by the fact that the sport tying him to their memory was the very thing he now had to face without them .

Choosing to Keep Skating

Grief doesn't ask permission before it shows up in the middle of a routine, a practice session, or a quiet morning. Maxim had every reason to walk away. Instead, in the months that followed, he leaned into the sport that had bonded him to his parents his whole life . A little over a year later, he earned a bronze medal at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, punching his ticket to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics [2] [.

Faith Becomes the Anchor

Naumov has spoken about finding strength not only through skating but through spiritual support during his season of grief and rebuilding. Reports indicate he began attending church alongside close friend and fellow skater Jaymin Howe, drawing encouragement from their shared Christian faith . He's also shared that a cross necklace he wears — one that came loose mid-performance in an unplanned, emotional moment — represents his enduring connection to his parents .

An Olympic Moment Bigger Than the Score

When Naumov took the ice at the 2026 Olympics, he dedicated his performance to his parents, later holding an old family photo of the three of them together in the kiss-and-cry zone . He recalled something his parents told him growing up: "Everything is practice until the Olympics" . He's said that even in their absence, he still feels their presence guiding his decisions and his mindset .

The Part That's Easy to Miss

It's tempting to look at an Olympic berth and see only the finish line. But Maxim Naumov's story isn't really about a scoreboard. It's about a young man who lost the two people who built his entire foundation, and who chose — one practice, one quiet church service, one necklace clasp at a time — to keep standing. That's grit. And for Naumov, it hasn't stood alone; it's been carried by faith.

Wherever you are in your own season of loss or rebuilding, his story is a reminder: you don't have to have it figured out to keep showing up. Sometimes faith first, grit second, is exactly the order that gets you back on the ice.