A year after tragedy, the Skating Club of Boston has something to cheer for at the Winter Olympics

Ailyn Flaherty hasn’t been alive for many Winter Olympics. But the 8-year-old is already a fan of the games, thanks to someone she knows.

She and her friends crowded nervously around the TV last Friday at the Skating Club of Boston as two of the Norwood institution’s own — Maxim Naumov and Aleksandr Selevko — competed with the world’s best figure skaters. Club members Emily Chan and Spencer Howe were also in Milan for the pairs competition.

“ I get coached by one of the world's Olympians!” Flaherty exclaimed.

The skaters, families and friends in attendance all watched nervously as the competition continued. In a way, they had all been working towards this moment.

The room fell silent as Naumov took the ice for the men’s free skate. But for most of the crowd in Norwood, Naumov’s technical performance didn’t really matter. They were there to celebrate his strength to show up in Milan at all.

Naumov’s parents — who were also his coaches — were among the 67 people who died when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C. in 2025. Four other members of the club were also on the plane: 16-year-old Spencer Lane, 13-year-old Jinna Han and their mothers Christine Lane and Jin Hee Han.

A little more than a year later, Naumov and three other members of the Skating Club of Boston were on Olympic ice.

“To see him live the dream that that family had for the last 20 years is beyond magical,” Kelly Flaherty, Ailyn’s mom and manager of events for the club, said.

“To have him go on in such tragedy is a testament to his strength, his resilience, and his love of his parents,” said Beth Lindberg, another mom of a skater.

As she watched Naumov compete, Flaherty said she was thinking about Ailyn, who recently made the cut for Tomorrow’s Champions, a youth development program founded by Naumov’s parents.

“ I think Max is just an incredible role model,” Flaherty said. “And I just think he worked so hard this year and it's so special that he's teaching them [her kids] these lessons from hundreds of miles away.”

“It feels really magical to be able to skate at one of the best ice rinks,” 8-year-old Ailyn Flaherty said.

Following the tragedy, Naumov not only came back as a skater, but took over as director and coach for his parent’s program while also training for the Olympics.

“As a parent of a skater, it is such a role model for my little girl to look up to, to say this is something that can happen,” said Lindberg. “Even when you are facing something that is so dire and so tragic, that will change you forever. You still can get to the roots of where you are and just pull up by your bootstraps and keep going.”

Jing Tu’s 8-year-old daughter recently graduated from the program and skated with Naumov’s parents.

“They were very patient like a family member,” said Tu, adding that Tomorrow's Champions is “where my daughter's skating dream started.”

For many of the adult skaters in the room, the event was bittersweet.

"Every day that I skate here, I am thinking, like, Spencer should be on this ice,” said Niko Cohen, 31.

"Both Niko and I were very close with Spencer Lane and Christine Lane,” 27-year-old Elizabeth Arvantis said. “And so to be able to see their memory, like, carried on — It's nice to think about that.”

Naumov placed 20th, after Selevko finished in 16th. Chan and Howe placed seventh in the pairs figure skating.

The room sighed and cheered as Naumov skated through an imperfect Olympic debut. When he finished, the room erupted in celebration — a collective release of last year's emotions and a surge of anticipation as they prepared to welcome their coach home as an Olympian.