Maxim Naumov

Maxim Naumov (born August 1, 2001) is an American figure skater. He is the 2026 U.S. national bronze medalist, three-time U.S. national pewter medalist, and the 2020 U.S. junior national champion. Naumov finished within the top five at the 2020 World Junior Championships.

He represented the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Maxim Naumov was born on August 1, 2001, in Hartford, Connecticut. His parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were the 1994 World Champions in pairs for Russia.^[3][4] Naumov previously competed in gymnastics as a child.^[5] After graduating from Simsbury High School in 2019, he began attending ASU Online.^[5]

Naumov has cited his figure skating influences as being Olympic champions Evgeni Plushenko and Yuzuru Hanyu, as well as his parents.^[4]

On January 29, 2025, Naumov's parents, who were passengers onboard American Eagle Flight 5342, were killed in the Potomac River mid-air collision. Three days prior to the crash, the couple expressed pride over their son's fourth-place finish at the 2025 U.S. Championships, which had recently taken place, via their joint Instagram account.^[6] Naumov subsequently took control of the Skating Club of Boston's Youth Academy Program that his parents founded.^[7][8]

Two months following the crash, Naumov spoke out about his parents' death and legacy during an interview with Today. He shared, "I would not be the person I am today without them. [... ]They were always like superheroes to me."^[8]

Naumov began skating at age five after being inspired by his parents.^[5] He is the 2013 U.S. national juvenile and the 2017 U.S. national novice champion, as well as the 2016 U.S. national novice and 2018 U.S. national junior bronze medalist. At the advanced novice level, Naumov is also the 2016 Gardena Trophy and 2017 International Challenge Cup champion.^[9]

Naumov made his junior international debut at the 2017 Philadelphia Summer International, winning the silver medal behind Ryan Dunk. He made his Junior Grand Prix debut at 2017 JGP Latvia, where he finished eighth. Naumov did not compete during the 2018–19 season due to injury.^[10]

Naumov returned to competition in June 2019 after missing the previous season due to injury.^[10] Competing on the 2019–20 ISU Junior Grand Prix, he placed seventh at 2019 JGP France.^[9]

Naumov won the junior title at the 2020 U.S. Championships. He landed two triple axels in his free skate and achieved a Level 4 on three elements.^[11] After attending the U.S. junior camp, he was named to the U.S. team for the 2020 World Junior Championships, alongside Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev.^[12] At the 2020 World Junior Championships, he placed tenth in the short and fourth in the free to finish fifth overall.^[13]

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging, Naumov was assigned to make his senior Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Skate America, an event scheduled for skaters training in the United States and held in Las Vegas.^[14] He placed eighth at the event.^[15]

Naumov next competed at the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, where he placed fifth in both segments and overall.^[16][17]

Naumov won the bronze medal at the Skating Club of Boston's Cranberry Cup event, and then came sixth at the 2021 U.S. Classic.^[9]

Naumov appeared twice on the Challenger circuit in the fall, finishing fifth at both the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy and the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup.^[9] Sixth after the short program at the 2023 U.S. Championships, he rose to fourth in the free skate and won the pewter medal.^[18] This in turn earned him an assignment to the 2023 Four Continents Championships.^[19] He finished tenth at Four Continents.^[9]

Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial, Naumov placed eleventh. On the Grand Prix, he was tenth at the 2023 Skate America.^[9]

In advance of the 2024 U.S. Championships, Naumov was preemptively named as first alternate for the American team for the 2024 Four Continents Championships, which were to occur in Shanghai the week after the national championships.^[20] Naumov finished second in the short program at the national championships, in what was considered a surprise result. He fell to fourth place after coming fourth in the free skate, winning a second consecutive national pewter medal.^[21] He subsequently replaced Camden Pulkinen on the Four Continents team, and finished twelfth the following weekend.^[9]

Naumov started the season at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where he finished in eleventh place.^[9] Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit at 2024 Skate America, he was seventh of twelve men. Naumov assessed his performance as "technically similar" to his appearance at the Nebelhorn Trophy, explaining that his quadruple jumps were improved in practices "so the consistency is getting there but I'm still lacking a lot of confidence on the actual program run. It's a natural progression so I'm feeling it will get better and better."^[22] He was later given a second assignment on the Challenger circuit, placing eighth at the 2024 CS Warsaw Cup.^[9]

At the 2025 U.S. Championships in Wichita, Naumov won his third consecutive pewter medal. His only notable error came in the free skate when failing to execute his planned quadruple Salchow jump, which he said he was "definitely bummed about," but added "I'm overall happy with how I did everything."^[23][24] Three days following the conclusion of the championships, Naumov's parents remained in Wichita to participate in a development camp for young skaters. They were part of a group of camp participants who were traveling home on American Eagle Flight 5342, which collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk over the Potomac River and crashed, resulting in the deaths of all onboard.^[25] Although assigned to the American team for the 2025 Four Continents Championships, Naumov subsequently withdrew.^[26][27]

On March 2, 2025, Naumov took part in Legacy on Ice, an ice show organized by U.S. Figure Skating that paid tribute to the victims aboard American Eagle Flight 5342. He honored his parents' memory by performing to "Город, которого нет (The City That Doesn't Exist)" by Igor Kornelyuk, which was their favorite song. Naumov received a standing ovation following his performance.^[28][29] Later that month, Naumov was invited to perform in the exhibition at the 2025 World Championships that took place in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He received a long standing ovation from the audience at the end of his performance.^[30]

Following a period of uncertainty, Naumov announced his plans to continue his competitive figure skating career. He selected Vladimir Petrenko, a longtime family friend, as his new head coach. In addition, he added renowned French choreographer Benoît Richaud to his team after being invited to partake in Richaud’s Peak Ice summer training camps in Italy and France.^[31][32]

He opened his season in September by finishing ninth at the 2025 CS Lombardia Trophy. The following month, he went on to place ninth at the 2025 Grand Prix de France and won the gold medal at the 2025 Ice Challenge.^[33]

In January, Naumov won the bronze medal at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. "It's been an emotional roller coaster for me personally," shared Naumov. "You know, I'm really happy that is all over right now. And I'm relieved but incredibly grateful to be sitting in this position right now." He was subsequently named to the 2026 Winter Olympic team.^[34] "I would not be sitting here without the unimaginable work, effort and love from my parents," he said following the announcement. "It means absolutely everything to me, fulfilling the dream that we collectively had as a family since I first was on the ice at five years old. So it means absolutely everything. And I know they’re looking down, smiling and proud."^[35]

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Naumov placed thirteenth in the short program and twenty-second in the free skate, finishing in twentieth place overall. He reflected happily on his Olympic experience following his free skate performance, saying, "What it took for me to get to this moment is what I look back on and what I'm most proud of. Of course, I made mistakes and fell on the [quad] Salchow, but that's not what it's all about. It's about just what it took to get here and the fact that I'm here. I gave everything that I possibly could have to do that program, from the start to finish. That is something I can take away from this... Today, I was able to just take a second, stay on my feet a little bit, and look around, and it was covered with U.S.A. flags. And it just makes me so proud, honestly, to be able to represent my country at the biggest stage. The privilege of doing that is really something. I always need to do things that I'm proud of. Of course, there's a couple of things I would have changed, but hopefully that can inspire me, with everything that I was able to do. And I think I'm going to have a better year later."^[36]

• Maxim Naumov at the International Skating Union
• Maxim Naumov at Skating Scores
• Maxim Naumov at U.S. Figure Skating
• Maxim Naumov at Team USA
• Maxim Naumov at Milano Cortina 2026
• Maxim Naumov at Olympics.com
• Maxim Naumov at Olympedia
• Maxim Naumov on Instagram