Three Olympians glided gracefully across the ice at the Skating Club of Boston on Wednesday, demonstrating the art and athleticism of their sport, while somehow also avoiding running into one another.
This was the first time figure skater Max Naumov and pairs team Emily Chan and Spencer Howe were back on their home ice since being selected to represent the United States at next month’s Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Making Team USA caps a turbulent year for these athletes and for the Skating Club of Boston as a whole. Just under a year ago, six members of this community were killed when the plane they were on collided with a helicopter in Washington, D.C. The victims included two young skaters and their mothers.
Also killed were coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. The married couple were also the parents of skater Max Naumov.
“I can’t describe how difficult it was in the very beginning and through month after month of just really, really trying my hardest to keep a positive mindset, keep all of the personal issues at home, and stay focused on skating when I was here,” Naumov said after practice on Wednesday. “But thankfully, skating became a tool that actually helped me overcome all of that.”
Naumov said he’s learned a lot about himself over the last year and as he continued to train for last week’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
“Resilience is something that I strive every day to show to myself and to my family and to my students and to everybody,” he said. “It’s one of the most important qualities that I try to be, every day. And having it all kind of culminate in those seven minutes combined at nationals just meant the whole world to me.”
That bronze medal winning performance at the nationals is what qualified Naumov for the Olympics.
He’ll be be joined there next month by Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, who have skated together for about eight years.
“When we first paired up, it felt like we were kids,” Chan said Wednesday. “We’ve been through a lot and we’re taking that all with us. And to see ourselves at this point is really meaningful.”
It’s special to be headed to Milan along with Naumov, Howe said. The two used to be roommates and Howe described Naumov as being like a brother.
“The one silver lining to this past year has been seeing how everyone has come together, seeing how we’ve been able to grow closer to Max, seeing how we’re supporting one another through our triumphs and through tragedy,” Howe said. “And so, at the end of the day, we have to always be grateful for what we have and keep moving forward.”
The Skating Club of Boston, which is in Norwood, is also home to the pairs team of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who last week won their second national championship in a row. The married couple had hoped to represent the U.S. in the Olympics, but Efimova — who has a Finnish passport — didn’t manage to get American citizenship in time.
“I’m very thankful that we got so far and overall I am very honored to to be here in the United States with an important person to me, doing the thing I really love,” Efimova said.
While they’re not headed to the Olympics, the pair said their focus is on the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship happening later this month in Beijing, China.
For Naumov, going to the Olympics is a dream — one that his parents had for him, and one that he’s worked for his whole life and through this incredibly trying last year.
“It’s what we dream about, it is what we think about when we go to bed, what we think about in the morning, what motivates us to do everything,” Naumov said. “And I am so honored to be a part of the team that gets to represent the USA this year.”
Naumov said he’ll carry photos of his parents with him to Milan to feel their presence as he competes in his first Olympics.
