“Did Vadim Naumov just walk past us?!”
I was a little incredulous, having just caught a glimpse of him, and not even realizing that he was going to be there. It was at a practice session at the 2020 US Figure Skating Championships, where Max would end up winning the junior title.
What became a bit more perplexing to me was why I was so starstruck. At that point, I had covered my fair share of figure skating competitions, and famous names were always to be found. But that quick glimpse was a throwback to my years in the 90s growing up watching and rewatching VHS tapes of every skating competition I could devour.
The pairs’ scene in the 90s had a lot of unpredictability. Side-by-side triples were becoming a must-have instead of a nice-to-have, triple twists were more common, two throw triples became a thing. And from 1992, the year I really started my love affair with the sport, to 1998, every Worlds had a different pair team who won it.
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov won it in 94.
What was interesting to me having been educated early on by NBC and ABC figure skating was that the narratives I heard was how Gordeeva/Grinkov were legends, or how Brasseur/Eisler were the exciting and powerful ones I should watch, or how Wotzel/Steuer were the quirky ones. No one really ever focused that much on Shishkova/Naumov—but their programs (and Meno/Sand’s too) were the ones I would go return to. Rewind, watch, rewind, watch, rewind, watch.
Growing up, my favorite part of Shishkova/Naumov’s skating was their impeccable extension—both of them, so well matched. I loved their subtle nods to the music; there was never particular bombast, but you knew they were skating with the music and not over it. As I understood the mechanics of skating more, I appreciated even more how much more powerful they were than almost all the rest of the pairs out there. And at a time when lifts were incredibly variable in quality, theirs were light, effortless, and creative.
During subsequent years, I’d have discussions (arguments?) with other skaters and skating obsessives about how Shishkova/Naumov should have won 1995 Worlds. And yes, real talk, 1996 Worlds too. (Four first-place ordinals in the free and they ended up fourth because none oef the other judges went higher than third—always gonna be a mystery.)
In the years since that first fanboy glimpse of Vadim, I got to know him and Genia through conversations in passing, mostly at US Nationals. Genia was well known as the one who couldn’t watch Max compete because she was too nervous. Their humility and serene elegance live on in Max and his skating. And both of them were always nothing but kind to those they see at these competitions.
At the start of Nationals this year, I was in the practice rink typing up my notes, and Vadim walked past me, tapped me on the shoulder, and said, “Always hard at work.”
A couple days later, after Max’s practices continued to improved, I looked over at Vadim and gave him a smile and a nod. At the end of practice, I was going to walk over to wish him and Max good luck for the competition, but a couple other people approached him and started talking, and I thought, “I’ll just tell him later.”
I never got the chance to.