Personal life
"Once again, Maxim made us all proud, getting on to the podium at Nationals after 7th place in the short. This beautiful and emotional performance is a result of a team work. Huge thanks to Serhii and Irina Vaypan and of course to Adam Blake for his wonderful choreography of a classic! Maxim has earned his place in the team of 4 Continents. 👏🏻👍🏻💪🏻😄🎊"
—Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova's final Instagram post caption [2] 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 the American Eagle Flight 5342, were killed in the Potomac River mid-air collision. Days prior the tragedy, 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]
Career
2020–21 season
Naumov started his season competing at the ISP Points Challenge, a virtual domestic competition for prize money, berths to the national championships, and future international assignments. Naumov competed in the senior men's event, placing sixth in both segments of the competition and seventh overall among ten skaters.
With the coronavirus 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. [12] He placed eighth at the event. [13]
Naumov next competed at the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, where he placed fifth in both segments and overall. [14] [15]
2023–24 season
Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial, Naumov placed eleventh. On the Grand Prix, he was tenth at the 2023 Skate America. [7]
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. [18] Naumov finished second in the short program at the national championships, in what was considered a surprise result. He dropped to fourth place after coming fourth in the free skate, winning a second consecutive national pewter medal. [19] He subsequently replaced Camden Pulkinen on the Four Continents team, and finished twelfth the following weekend. [7]
2024–25 season
Naumov started the season at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where he finished in eleventh place. [7] 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." [20] He was later given a second assignment on the Challenger circuit, placing eighth at the 2024 CS Warsaw Cup. [7]
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." [21] 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. [22] Although assigned to the American team for the 2025 Four Continents Championships, Naumov subsequently withdrew. [23] [24]
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