Following his late father's plan, Maxim Naumov became an Olympian
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Maxim Naumov during his free skate at the 2026 U.S. Championships, (Melanie Healey / U.S. Figure Skating)
ST. LOUIS, Missouri - A year ago, barely hours after Maxim Naumov had finished a frustrating fourth at the U.S. Championships for a third straight time, his father, Vadim, laid out a plan for his son to avoid that frustration again.
Maxim and his mother, Evgenia Shishkova, listened in a Wichita, Kansas hotel room as Vadim outlined in a 45-minute conversation what, how and when they were going to do everything in the ensuing season to give their only child his best shot at both a podium finish and one of the three men’s singles spots on the 2026 U.S. Olympic team.
"He said, 'We have to be consistent where we haven’t been before, and we have to be strong and resilient,’’’ Maxim said. "That’s exactly what I’ve been carrying through this entire season.”
It was one of the last conservations he would have with his parents, the two-time pairs skating Olympians for Russia who were also his coaches.
