Figure skater Maxim Naumov, whose parents were killed last year in a plane crash near Washington, D.C., is back on the ice in Massachusetts and training to live out his dream.

Naumov, who trains with the Skating Club of Boston, learned this week that he's headed to the 2026 Olympics. He won the bronze medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis and was named to Team USA.

"It's very surreal," he said Wednesday. "I'm still pinching myself. In every sense of the word it's a dream come true."

How skating helped Maxim Naumov overcome loss

Naumov lost his parents, former world champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, a year ago when their plane collided with a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., killing 67. He wasn't sure that he would ever skate again, but now he is set to compete in the Olympics - a dream he shared with his parents.

"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 and focus on day-to-day," Naumov said. "Thankfully skating became a tool that actually helped me overcome all of that."

This is the first time since 2014 that the Boston club is sending athletes to the Olympics. Spencer Howe and Emily Chan are also heading to Milan to compete on the world stage.

Over the past year this group has supported each other and motivated each other to get to this point. Two young figure skaters from the club, 16-year-old Spencer Lane and 13-year-old Jinna Han, were also killed in the crash, as were their mothers.

"You don't know what is going to happen in life but you roll with the punches and you find a way to move forward," Howe said. "Community, community that's everything to us."

Soaking it in

The three skaters are excited and honored to represent the USA, and to represent the Skating Club of Boston. 

"Boston feels like home for both of us," Howe said. "The environment here is great, the training here is great, we have all the resources we need and it's definitely a big part of why we're standing here right now"

Naumov plans to pack photos of his parents and to keep them with him for every moment of this exciting journey.

"They were telling me that the Olympics is such a celebration," he said. "It's the culmination of years of your life dedicated to this one thing ... I want to soak all of it in."