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At the end of his figure skating performance, when the last note of his parents’ favorite song played in an arena packed with spectators and heavy with sorrow, Maxim Naumov dropped to his knees at the center of the ice. He remained there for what seemed like forever, awash in a spotlight, looking lost and sobbing.
And in row after row, section after section, inside Capital One Arena on Sunday in downtown Washington, the crowd of about 15,000 people climbed to its feet, applauded — and cried with him.
Naumov was one of the skaters featured at the benefit Legacy on Ice, held in honor of the 67 people who died on Jan. 29 when an Army helicopter collided with a passenger jet above the Potomac River in Washington. Many of those victims were young figure skaters traveling home with their parents and coaches from a development camp after the U.S. Figure Skating nationals in Wichita, Kan. Both of Naumov’s parents were killed.
On Sunday, he might have looked alone kneeling there in the middle of the ice. He was far from it.
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