SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- Massachusetts figure skaters Spencer Howe, Emily Chan, and Max Naumov will be heading to Italy to represent team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics. For one of these three, the honor holds so much added meaning.

24-year-old Max Naumov was around three years old when he first stepped onto the ice at the International Skating Center of Connecticut with his parents. Unfortunately, they will be unable to watch him skate for the gold this winter.

Naumov’s parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were among the 67 people killed last January when their plane crashed into a military helicopter over Washington D.C.

The former World Champions became coaches at the Skating Club of Boston and were returning from a development camp in Kansas, but Max took an earlier flight home.

He says one of the last conversations he had with his parents was about making the Olympic team.

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