Remembering Shishkova Naumov

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Vash01

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I loved Shishkova Naumov’s skating. I first saw them skating their SP to Take Five and knew they could become world champions in the future.

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It seems the Canadian commentators didn’t like them, but I remember that the US commentators loved them.

Their Lp

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1993 skate America exhibition (I saw this and their championship skates live, in Dallas)

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1994 Olympics LP

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They were unlucky. Return of the pros - the only time. The past pairs were allowed to compete, after retirement from amateur skating. S&N could have won an Olympic silver. They never got another opportunity to win an Olympic medal.

1994 worlds

SP

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1995 worlds LP - Unfinished symphony

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Here is one of their best

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1997 Euro LP

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They were not selected for the 1998 Olympics. Yeltsova Bushkov won the Russian nationals (I think), so they got the automatic entry. K&D and B&S were the other pairs.
 
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P

Private Citizen

"PC." Pronouns: none/none
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Thanks for starting a thread. I was thinking about starting one, too.

What an unlucky career they had:
-- losing out on the bronze medal at 1992 Olympics (I believe by a 5-4 split)
-- losing out on the bronze again in another close ordinal situation (maybe 5-4 again), and really loss of silver/gold with the return of the pros
-- extremely controversial loss to Kovarikova and Novotny at 1995 Worlds
-- the WEIRDEST ordinal situation I've ever seen at 1996 Worlds, with four first-place ordinals, a third, and four fourths landing them in fourth place (has any other skater ever finished off the podium with four first place ordinals?!?) after winning almost everything else that season
-- being dumped by their federation in 1997

I forget whether it was in 1997 or 1998, but they tried to stop their program due to either a costume or equipment issue at 1998 Russian Nationals, only to be refused and told to keep skating, with no opportunity to make up missed elements while talking to referee. It's the only time I've ever seen this happen.

Select memories of them:
-- Electric green costumes at 1992 Olympics (before they discovered their elegant style)
-- Beautifully tight rotation in the throw triple salchow
-- Exquisite lift positions, especially in the star lift, and their cool flip-up entry press lift
-- Great spiral sequences, camel positions, and unison

Their best program, IMO, was their 1995-96 Ave Maria short program:

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Watching it now, it's almost as if it's a tribute to their memories. I'm not sure if they ever received any 6.0s for this program, but I thought it warranted them if skated perfectly.

RIP, Shishkova and Naumov, unlucky and underappreciated but never forgotten!
 
Former Lurve Goddess

Former Lurve Goddess

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3,702
I remember seeing them live in 1996 at the very first GPF (then called the Champions Series) which they won. They were an incredibly charming pair, and at the time, I assumed they'd be on top of the podium at the '98 Olympics. I'm glad some of their performances are preserved on YouTube as a lasting legacy of their stellar old-school Russian pair skating.
 
V

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
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T

Taso

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Vash01 said:
I remember thinking at that time that they were robbed. Their only mistake was they finished after the music. Kovarikova Nonotny had problem on a sbs jump.

I loved their extensions, unison, her pointed toes and positions in their lifts.
Click to expand...
EYS, I thought they got placed 2nd to give Kovarikova & Novotny the title. As if that somehow corrected for K&N getting wuzrobbed by Woetzel & Steuer for a home country gold medal. Total crap, none of it the skaters' fault, but Shishkova & Naumov will always be the 1995 World champions in my book.

And the totally bizarre 4th place they got in Edmonton in 1996 - 4 1st place ordinals 1 3rd, and 4 4ths and they landed in 4th. Thank goodness that can't happen now, can't imagine they would've been less than 2nd or 3rd that day.

And they skated amazingly in Lillehammer in 1994, like all the pairs. Had they skated that way in Albertville, or Nagano if they'd been given the shot to go, they would've won (same for B&E). But that wasn't their fate.

None of which was that big of a deal, in retrospect of them being killed last night. I've been all over the place all day.

They really were such a solid pairs team. Beautiful example of the Saint Petersburg school. And who would've even thought that later there would be such a drought of pairs from that tradition. We were spoiled to have Shishkova & Naumov, and they weren't appreciated nearly enough, especially by their own federation. Makes me wonder if the Velikovs & Piseev didn't get along, and also S&N was their first team in the ISU senior championships.
 
Buzz

Buzz

Socialist Canada
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38,666
Vash01 said:
I loved Shishkova Naumov’s skating. I first saw them skating their SP to Take Five and knew they could become world champions in the future.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

It seems the Canadian commentators didn’t like them, but I remember that the US commentators loved them.

Their Lp

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

1993 skate America exhibition (I saw this and their championship skates live, in Dallas)

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

1994 Olympics LP

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

They were unlucky. Return of the pros - the only time. The past pairs were allowed to compete, after retirement from amateur skating. S&N could have won an Olympic silver. They never got another opportunity to win an Olympic medal.

1994 worlds

SP

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

1995 worlds LP - Unfinished symphony

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Here is one of their best

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

1997 Euro LP

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

They were not selected for the 1998 Olympics. Yeltsova Bushkov won the Russian nationals (I think), so they got the automatic entry. K&D and B&S were the other pairs.
Click to expand...
Thanks for these. I loved their skating too. So heart breaking…
 
coppertop1

coppertop1

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,071
I remember them. They definitely had that classic Russian pair style. They're often overlooked among Russia's dynasty in pairs, but they were still beautiful to watch. I spent the day watching videos of them on YouTube. RIP to them, my thoughts are with their son
 
V

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
Messages
56,978
Private Citizen said:
Thanks for starting a thread. I was thinking about starting one, too.

What an unlucky career they had:
-- losing out on the bronze medal at 1992 Olympics (I believe by a 5-4 split)
-- losing out on the bronze again in another close ordinal situation (maybe 5-4 again), and really loss of silver/gold with the return of the pros
-- extremely controversial loss to Kovarikova and Novotny at 1995 Worlds
-- the WEIRDEST ordinal situation I've ever seen at 1996 Worlds, with four first-place ordinals, a third, and four fourths landing them in fourth place (has any other skater ever finished off the podium with four first place ordinals?!?) after winning almost everything else that season
-- being dumped by their federation in 1997

I forget whether it was in 1997 or 1998, but they tried to stop their program due to either a costume or equipment issue at 1998 Russian Nationals, only to be refused and told to keep skating, with no opportunity to make up missed elements while talking to referee. It's the only time I've ever seen this happen.

Select memories of them:
-- Electric green costumes at 1992 Olympics (before they discovered their elegant style)
-- Beautifully tight rotation in the throw triple salchow
-- Exquisite lift positions, especially in the star lift, and their cool flip-up entry press lift
-- Great spiral sequences, camel positions, and unison

Their best program, IMO, was their 1995-96 Ave Maria short program:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtu.be youtu.be
Watching it now, it's almost as if it's a tribute to their memories. I'm not sure if they ever received any 6.0s for this program, but I thought it warranted them if skated perfectly.

RIP, Shishkova and Naumov, unlucky and underappreciated but never forgotten!
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you wrote. They had a lot of bad luck but they remained gracious throughout. No bitterness, complaining, etc.

I too loved their Ave Maria SP. It was so beautiful! I think she had some of the best pointed toes.
 
V

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
Messages
56,978
More performances

1993 worlds SP


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Their sbs camel spins were so good! They did them very close. Their skate blades always were close to the other’s head. Dangerous! Showed great control


1993 Skate America LP

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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1991 NHK exhibition Take Five
In 1992 it became their SP

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

1994 Olympics SP- beautifully skated.

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Last edited:
ice coverage

ice coverage

Well-Known Member
Messages
797
ISU obituary for Shishkova and Naumov:

Obituary Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov (RUS)

The International Skating Union (ISU) and the entire skating community are heartbroken by the tragic loss of figure skaters, their coaches, and family members who were aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, that crashed on January 29, 2025 in Washington DC. Among those on board were 1994 ISU...
isu.org isu.org
(published Feb 1)​
 
Sylvia

Sylvia

Flight #5342: I Will Remember You
Messages
84,278
Katie Orscher's message includes photos of her and Garrett Lucash (with whom she won the 2005 U.S. national title) and Ivan Dimitrov (teamed up in 2008 but never competed, IIRC) with their coaches: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFdhXzyIX8s/

I don’t normally post like this… but I’m feeling very far from “home” but yet so close and this is the only thing I can do, right now…

I am heartbroken. 💔

I’m so sad that these beautiful, talented and good hearts, who taught me so much where words cannot describe and it cannot be measured, left us far too early and far too tragically.

I am forever great full to have known them and to have received their guidance and influence within the sport and the skating community.

They have been able to touch so many people in many different areas and stages of their life and careers. I will remember them as great and artistic athletes, strong, supportive and talented coaches and caring, sincere and loving parents and friends.

Thank you, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, for your guidance, wisdom, and belief in me. I am truly honored to have been part of the new chapter you began in 2000 and to be one of your first successes.

You will be terribly missed. 💔😔


Garrett Lucash helped coached Max with his parents in 2023-24 before relocating to the Detroit Skating Club last summer. I'm sure he will be there for Max now in any way he can (ETA link to his post from his "Athlete Centered Skating" account): https://www.instagram.com/p/DFdUEwJzatM/

Alexa Knierim started her pairs career in Simsbury, CT with Shishkova/Naumov - she and Ivan Dimitrov (they WD from what was supposed to be their senior debut at 2011 Nationals due to illness, IIRC, and placed 10th at 2012 Nationals before parting ways) - Alexa spoke on the phone to this Chicago TV news station on Thursday: https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicag...tims-saw-competition-wichita-kansas/15849885/
World champion figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Alexa Knierim, who is now a coach in the northwest suburbs herself, praised Vadim Naumov Eugenia Shishkova, who were killed in the crash. They coached her and so many others.
"They made a positive impact on me as well as everyone in the skating world," she said. "Everybody adored them. They were a very kind loving couple."
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Sylvia

Sylvia

Flight #5342: I Will Remember You
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84,278
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a Tribute by Lynn Rutherford: http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/
An excerpt:
There was so much to appreciate: their quick, light movements. Inventive lifts, including one with a flip-up entrance. Uncanny unison in side-by-side spins. Superb spiral sequences, then a required element in the pairs’ short program. And, of course, what Canadian commentators called “that Russian speed.”
“Doesn’t (Shishkova) remind you of Ludmila Belousova Protopopov?” Dick Button said during their free skate at the 1996 world championships in Edmonton, Alberta, comparing Genia to the elegant two-time Olympic pairs champion. “Petite, gentle, quiet, very blonde, very stretched.”
Skating to classics including Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, with choreography straight out of the Mariinsky Ballet, rarely was either skater caught in anything less than impeccable position. Naumov treated his partner with sensitivity and respect, lifting her with ease and setting her down gently.
But for all of their success, which included three national titles, five European Championship medals and a win at the 1995/96 ISU Champions Series Final, Shishkova and Naumov were unlucky and, I think, under appreciated.
Click to expand...
Cross-posting this People.com article link from Max Naumov's fan thread:
people.com

Skater Maxim Naumov, 23, Who Lost Both Parents in D.C. Plane Crash, Now with Family Friends ‘24 Hours’ a Day (Exclusive)

In an interview with PEOPLE, Olympic gold medalist Ekaterina 'Katia' Gordeeva mourned her late teammates Evgenia Shiskova and Vadim Naumov, killed in the Jan. 29 crash. She revealed their son Maxim Naumov, 23, is being supported by a close family friend around the clock.
people.com people.com
According to Katia [Gordeeva], the couple has known Maxim since he was born and were “very supportive to Vadim and Zhenya all the time” with their son. “I know that Maxim has someone with him 24 hours,” she tells PEOPLE.
Zhenya and Vadim competed alongside Katia and her late husband Sergei Grinkov at the 1994 Olympics, where they finished in fourth place. They wed in 1995 and retired in 1998 to skate professionally while moving to Simsbury, where they would eventually welcome their son Maxim.
According to Katia, a lot of the Russian skating community she grew up with also settled in Simsbury, building a community there. This is where she says she grew close with Zhenya and Vadim, particularly in recent years.
“We had a really nice one New Year together, we rented like a little house, Airbnb, and we had an amazing time together, just like playing snowballs and like being like a kid. It was very nice and friendly people,” she tells PEOPLE.
Click to expand...
Katia also shares that she and Zhenya bonded over their pregnancies with her daughter and Maxim as they were pregnant at the same time.
“I know that my daughter reached out to him because they are closer to her in age,” she says. Regarding the plane crash that claimed Zhenya and her husband’s life, she continued, “My daughter was so devastated yesterday. She was like, ‘I have to go. I have to go see him right now.’ ”
Click to expand...
Liza Kulik was born on June 15, 2001; Max on August 1, 2001.
 
Sylvia

Sylvia

Flight #5342: I Will Remember You
Messages
84,278
Tatjana Flade's post+3 photos:
www.instagram.com

Tatjana F on Instagram: "The tragedy of the plane crash in the USA has hit the figure skating community hard. In the figure skating world, people know each other, often for many years and decades. I would like to tell you about Evgenia Shishkova and

2,807 likes, 69 comments - tanjaflade on February 4, 2025: "The tragedy of the plane crash in the USA has hit the figure skating community hard. In the figure skating world, people know each other, often for many years and decades. I would like to tell you about Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

Anastasia Vaipan Law's tribute & photos (her father, Serhii Vaypan, coached with Shishkova/Naumov at SCoB - recall seeing him in the kiss & cry with them at Eastern Sectionals in November after having undergone brain tumor removal surgery last year):
www.instagram.com

Anastasia Kristina Vaypan-Law on Instagram: "No words will ever be enough but I want to express my gratitude towards these 2 incredible people❤️ RIP to all of the US figure skaters & coaches and families, and to all the remaining passengers.. it is t

2,212 likes, 0 comments - anastasiavaipanlaw_ on February 4, 2025: "No words will ever be enough but I want to express my gratitude towards these 2 incredible people❤️ RIP to all of the US figure skaters & coaches and families, and to all the remaining passengers.. it is truly a heartbreaking...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
Anastasia's little stepsister, Daria, is the one in the photos she shared.
 
Sylvia

Sylvia

Flight #5342: I Will Remember You
Messages
84,278
Cross posting @Yehudi's link here:
Yehudi said:
From last week, but Marina Eltsova was interviewed.

Click to expand...
Shishkova/Naumov-related excerpts for those who might not be able to read the 1/31/25 Kansas City Star article by Laura Bauer (includes a photo Eltsova shared of herself posing with Vadim Naumov and Maxim after the medal ceremony in Wichita):
Marina Eltsova was back home in Leawood [Kansas] when she texted her long-time friend Evgenia Shishkova pictures from the figure skating competition in Wichita days before. Eltsova had captured photos of Shishkova’s son, Maxim Naumov, with his medal. She thought her friend — who she trained with at the same rink in Russia three decades ago — would like to have them.
She also told Shishkova that she and her daughter may go to Boston for the International Skating Union World Skating Championships in late March. She said she would need to find lodging. “You can always stay with us,” Shishkova texted her friend Wednesday morning. And Eltsova figured she’d get back to her once her plans were final. Hours later, Shishkova and her husband, Vadim Naumov — internationally-known figure skaters from Russia who won the pairs title at the 1994 World Figure Skating Championship — boarded an American Airlines flight in Wichita. Just before landing in Washington D.C., that plane collided mid-air with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River.
The plane had 60 passengers and four crew members on board, and the helicopter was carrying three soldiers. Authorities have said there were no survivors. Eltsova didn’t know about the crash until early Thursday morning when her phone filled with text messages from Russia. Her former skating partner Andrei Bushkov even texted, “Is it true?” “And I’m like, I’m not even sure why I’m getting so many text messages, and what’s happening, you know?” Eltsova said. “I’m like, ‘I need to sit down.’ Your heart just knows something happened.” The first headline she saw said “plane crash.” Then there was a picture of Shishkova and Naumov. “I couldn’t even speak,” she said. “It’s hard to believe it happened. I don’t know where the helicopter came from. I can’t even watch it. I know there are videos of what happened. I just did not want to see it.
Click to expand...
“We skated together. We grew up in Saint Petersburg and we skated on the same ice. We didn’t have the same coaches, we competed against each other.” Shishkova and Naumov, she said, “were a couple all their life.”
Two years after Shishkova and Naumov won the world championship, Eltsova and Bushkov grabbed the pairs title. Competitors on the ice, close friends off. “It’s unbelievable,” said Eltsova, who is a full-time esthetician and coaches figure skating part-time. “It’s surreal. It doesn’t feel that it happened actually. It just feels like it cannot happen. A nightmare.” More than a dozen coaches and skaters with the United States figure skating team were on the flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C. The skaters were part of the National Development Team, a training program for top juvenile, intermediate and novice figure skaters. In total, 14 people from the figure skating world were on the flight, six from The Skating Club of Boston. That included Shishkova and Naumov, two of their teen skaters and their mothers. The coaches’ son, Maxim, was not on the flight because he flew home earlier in the week. “Oh my gosh, I cannot imagine what he feels,” Eltsova said of Maxim, who she says is a “beautiful skater.” “It just makes me cry.”
Click to expand...
Eltsova said her friends were “very disciplined and very caring people. And very supportive to their skaters and very, very, very hard working people.” To the point that Eltsova said she once asked Shishkova if she ever took time off. In that last text she sent her friend Tuesday night, Eltsova asked if Shishkova and Naumov planned to go to the World Championship and watch the performances. “She said, ‘We will be working for sure,’” Eltsova said. “‘I don’t know yet how much we will watch skating.’” Eltsova no longer plans on going to Boston in March. She just can’t imagine herself being there at the world competition at this point. Not without her friends, the couple she came to know on the ice in Saint Petersburg, Russia so long ago.
“I can’t do it emotionally,” she said. “It just happened. Maybe if it wasn’t in Boston, you know. It’s just super hard. Emotional.”
Click to expand...
 
T

tockyolina

Active Member
Messages
446
Hi everybody. I was devastated by this news. I haven't posted on FSU for a loooong time, but I felt I had to pay tribute to them as they were key figures in the development of my interest in figure skating as a teenager.
The first ever videotape I recorded was precisely the 1994 Worlds' pairs' competition. I was 13 at the time and I fell in love with their free program and watched it countless times in the summer of 1994, then cheered them on the following years. In 1998, when I found out they had moved to Simsbury, I wrote them a letter through the ISCC to express my admiration and how sorry I was about not having managed to see them skate live and for them not being rightly rewarded by judges on several occasions. If I remember well, I did write them they could have been 3-time world champs. They took the time to reply, sending me 2 photos with their autographs and telling me not to be upset about them, because "life is always changing, now we have a different, but better life, and we wish you good luck in your life!" - This is the kind of sweet people they were.
I also would like to share an article I found which does not seem to be included in the above list, and which perfectly reflects how I have always felt about them, "serene elegance":
www.rockerskating.com

The serene elegance of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov — Rocker Skating - Analysis by Jackie Wong

In memory of Evgenia Shishkova (1972-2025) and Vadim Naumov (1969-2025)
www.rockerskating.com www.rockerskating.com
 
T

tockyolina

Active Member
Messages
446
Another clear memory I have is when I met their coach Ludmila Velikova. It was when I attended Trophée Bompard in 2006. She was there with Petrova/Tikhonov, I think. I had attended the competition with a girl I had made friends with, who could speak some Russian. It was during a practice session for the exhibition that we approached her and, through my friend, I told her I particularly appreciated S&N, that I felt they were robbed and asked if she was still in touch with them. As soon as she heard their names, she put a hand on her heart and my friend told me she said they were her favorites of all the pairs she worked with and she regularly heard from them by phone. Which is practically the same thing she said a few days ago. I got shivers when I read the translation as I immediately recalled my meeting with her. I have shivers now...
 
T

tockyolina

Active Member
Messages
446
I have some press coverage from 1998 editions of Blades on Ice and International Figure Skating about them. Through these articles I learnt they had moved to the US and wrote them. I don't know how to upload them though.
 
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