Boston – Maxim Naumov stopped in the midst of the ice, looked at the sky and gave the heart palmaditas. Then he took some words, in Russian, to his parents:
“This is for you. You are with me. I love you both.”
The former World Couples Champion, Vadim Naumov and Shishkova Evgenia, died in January when his plane crashed with a military helicopter as he approached Washington, DC, and fell to the ice cream Potomac River. A total of 67 people were killed, including more than two dozen who returned from a development camp after the American artistic skating championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Maxim Naumov, who finished fourth in the nationals, had already returned home. From the accident, it has become many ways in the face of the tragedy, or at least its effect on the skating community.
“I don’t think he walked down a hall and has not given a hug since then. And I feel that support and love,” he said on Sunday. “He has been beyond everything I could have imagined. And he helps a lot to spend this day.”
“It’s overwhelming,” he said. “But it makes my heart so full.”
Naumov, 23, skated in a benefit in Washington earlier this month that raised more than $ 1.2 million for the families of the victims. Speaking to journalists on Sunday after acting at the World Championship gala, Naumov said that the time on the ice gives his mind the opportunity to escape the tragedy.
“As soon as I hit the ice, my brain simply, I don’t know if it is the approach or simply calm or stillness or what, but it seems that I tune in everything,” he said. “And I’m just talking to them, and they are helping me.
“I don’t listen to the crowd. I don’t listen to the announcers, I don’t hear anything. I only have this internal dialogue and I can almost be calm and be in my heart,” Naumov said. “And they are always there too. And every time I think of them, especially when I’m on the ice, it really helps me to happen.”
The World Championship, which had previously been scheduled at the Boston Celtics and Bruins’ house, brought renewed air accident and the Boston Centennial Skating Club that has been a home for Olympics and recreational skaters alike.
There was a tribute on Wednesday, interspersed between the two sessions of the day and the frequent reminders of the tragedy.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who ended up sixth in pairs this weekend, held photos of the Boston Club members who died in the accident: two young skaters, their mothers and the two coaches. The reigning champion of the United States, Amber Glenn, wore a shirt honoring the memory of all the young skaters who were lost.
Ilia Malinin, the “quad God” who won his second consecutive world championship on Saturday night, ended the show on Sunday with a performance that said he was dedicated to the victims of the plane crash. He reached the end, with red eyes and drowned with tears.
The introduction of Naumov on Sunday identified him as a member of the Boston Club and included his three quarters in Nationals. He did not mention the accident, but many in the crowd surely knew his connection: he received not only the educated applause that greeted most of the other skaters, but a second wave, with standing people to encourage him.
Using black pants without ornaments and a bright black lid, a gold chain that fell around his neck as he slid on the ice, Naumov gave a gala performance aimed more to the emotion than to the test of athletic skill.
The choice of music, the posthumous launch of 2020 by Mac Miller, “That on Me”, was intentional. Miller died of an accidental drug overdose in 2018.
“Lately, for some reason, well, not for some reason, but lately I have been listening to the album of Mac Miller ‘Circles’. As again and again,” Naumov said. “And knowing the unfortunate story about him as an artist, he has been very identifiable.
“I interact with him, and I feel very deeply and emotionally about what he is talking about in those songs. And it has also been really useful for me almost to get my emotions that personally.”
When he finished his skate, Naumov breathed deeply, he gave a few palmaditas to the heart and greeted each direction. Its arches were deep and moving. Leaving the ice after an ovation standing one minute, made the sign of the cross.
“There are many emotions at this time, and it is difficult to even name what I am currently feeling,” he said. “I feel a lot of support, and it is very overwhelming.
“I am so gratitude,” Naumov said. “And I am grateful for each and every one of those fans.”
