American figure skater Maxim Naumov carried the memory of his late parents to the Olympic Games on Tuesday night, performing an emotional, heartfelt short program at Games in Cortina in Milan which fulfilled a dream they had long shared together.

His parentsformer couples world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumovthey were among 67 killed persons — more than two dozen of them members of the figure skating community — when American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into military helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan National Airport and plunged into the icy Potomac River on January 29, 2025.

One of the last conversations Naumov had with his parents was about what would be needed for the Olympics.

“I’ve been inspired by them since the first day, since we stepped on the ice together,” said Naumov, who brought an old photo of that kiss-and-cry moment in Milan’s skating arena, the little guy standing between his parents as he stepped onto the ice for the first time, the three of them smiling for the camera.

“I don’t necessarily think of them in particular,” Naumov said, “but their presence. To feel their presence. With every skate and step I took on the ice, I couldn’t help but feel their support, almost like a chess piece on a chessboard.”

What made one of the enjoyable stories of the Winter Games even more special was the performance.

While a top-10 prospect at the Olympics, much less a podium finish, the 24-year-old Naumov still had one of the best short programs of his career. He began with a quad salchow as his godmother, Gretta Bogdan, watched from the stands, then continued with a triple axel and a triple lutz-triple toe loop to finish the program.

As the final notes of Frederic Chopin’s “Nocturne No. 20” reverberated through the arena and the audience stood up, Naumov stopped on his knees and looked up at the sky, telling his parents, “Look what we’ve done.”

“I didn’t know whether to cry or smile or laugh,” he said afterward, “and all I could do was look up at them. And man, I still can’t believe what just happened. I think it’s going to take me a few hours or maybe a few weeks to find out.”

His score of 85.65 was enough to get him through the short program, giving him another chance to perform when the men’s free skate takes place on Friday night.

The plane carrying Naum’s parents also carried 11 young skaters, two other coaches and several family members who were at a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, after the 2025 state championships.

Naum’s parents were coaches at the Boston Skating Club. which lost six members in a mid-air crash.

Naumov was eliminated early, shortly after finishing fourth for the third year in a row.

“I can’t describe how hard it was in the beginning, and through the month after month of trying my best to keep a positive mindset and focus on the day after day, luckily skating became a tool that actually helped me overcome that,” Naumov he told CBS News Boston last month during Olympic training at the Skating Club.

The idea of ​​fulfilling the Olympic dream he had with his parents pushed him on. And when he finished third at the U.S. Championships in January, his spot was all but assured.

“To be honest,” Naumov said Tuesday night, “I wasn’t thinking about anything perfect or anything like that. I wanted to go out there and just do my best. Leave it all out there. No regrets. And that’s exactly what I felt.”

“To face the tragedy that he faced, and like he said, get up and do the day. And that’s what he did. He’s done one day at a time,” Katharine Steeger, the skating club’s director of member services, told CBS Boston. “For Max to start us off with such an amazing skate for him, it’s just, there really are no words.”

This is the first time since 2014 that the Boston Skating Club has sent athletes to the Olympics. Along with Naumov, they also sent figure skating couple Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe.

In the crowd on Tuesday, dozens of American flags fluttered as Naumov’s program came to an end. At one end of the arena, a fan held a large banner that read “Champions of Tomorrow” and bore the logo of the Boston Skating Club — “Champions of Tomorrow” is the name of the skating school there that his parents founded and Naumov now oversees.

“From the moment my name was announced in warmups to right before I skated,” Naumov said, “I felt it — just the crowd, the energy, the roar. It’s like a buzz, you know? In your body. I couldn’t help but hug it. Embrace that love.”