Three local figure skaters chosen for USA Olympic team

Canton’s Spencer Howe and partner Emily Chan perform at the 2026 U.S. Nationals. (Photo courtesy of Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating)

Three local figure skaters chosen for USA Olympic team

This story originally appeared in the January 15 edition of the Canton Citizen.

Local residents who tune in to watch next month’s Winter Olympics Games will have an added rooting interest with the selection of three Boston area skaters to represent Team USA in Milan.

One of those three, Spencer Akira Howe, is a current Canton resident, and he’ll be making his Olympic debut in the pairs competition alongside his skating partner, Emily Chan of Dedham. Having trained together since 2019 at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, the duo has become a fixture on the national skating circuit and is fresh off a second consecutive pewter medal (fourth place) finish at the U.S. National Championships in St. Louis.

All told, the pair has combined to win five U.S. national medals — including a silver in 2023 — while also finishing second in back-to-back years at the prestigious Four Continents Championships.

Howe and Chan were one of two pairs named to the U.S. Olympic team along with Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, who took home the silver at last week’s national championships. Unfortunately, the reigning two-time gold medal-winning pair, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who are also based out of SC Boston, were not eligible for Team USA this year due to Efimova’s citizenship status. Although a Green Card holder and married to Mitrofanov, who’s a U.S. citizen, Efimova, a native of Finland, was not able to secure a U.S. passport in time despite efforts by SC Boston to expedite the process.

In a statement, the club said it is “incredibly proud” of the pair’s accomplishments, including their captivating performance in St. Louis earlier this month to clinch their second consecutive national title. “They truly are champions, both on and off the ice,” said an SC Boston spokesperson. “We are equally disappointed they will not be joining Team USA in Milan, but we look forward to them representing the United States at the 2026 ISU World Championships in Prague. I think they have a lot more to accomplish and to show the world what they can do as a pair.”

While unable to reach the heights achieved by Efimova and Mitrofanov at nationals, Howe and Chan rebounded from eighth place in the short program with a strong free skate program to clinch their spot on the podium. The icing on the cake came on the final day of event when U.S. Figure Skating released its final Olympic roster.

“We are shocked,” said Howe after hearing the announcement. “This whole competition was just filled with a lot of roller coasters. As things have moved through the competition, all I can say is so many miracles have been happening throughout it. I’ve got to thank God at this point. This was well out of our control, and the fact we are here right now, we are so grateful and give credit where credit is due.”

For both skaters, it marks the culmination of years of training and sacrifice, starting at age 4 for Chan and age 9 for Howe as they worked their way up through the junior circuit before partnering up and relocating to the Boston area. And the chance to represent Team USA comes with added significance for Howe, who made the decision last year to enlist in the U.S. Army through its World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). A Private Second Class, he currently serves as an auto transport operator and hopes to eventually transition to the Chaplain Corps after he retires from skating.

Also set to join Howe and Chan in northern Italy as part of the 16-member U.S. Figure Skating roster is fellow SC Boston skater Maxim Naumov, one of three men’s soloists selected along with fellow Team USA representatives Ilia Malinin, the reigning two-time world champion, and Andrew Torgashev, a two-time U.S. silver medalist.

The 24-year-old Naumov, who currently resides in Norwood, clinched his spot on the U.S. Olympic team after a stellar performance at nationals, where he captured the bronze medal.

Naumov’s selection to his first Olympic team carried added meaning as it came nearly a year after he lost both of his parents in a plane crash in Washington, D.C. Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were not only skating partners and two-time former Olympians themselves; they were also two of the Skating Club of Boston’s top coaches and a major presence in the local skating community. The couple perished on January 29, 2025, along with 65 others — including promising young skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane and their mothers — when their plane collided in mid-air with a military helicopter.

“My parents, what we talked about and how much we discussed this through my entire life, and how much it means to us, and how much the Olympics is part of our family, I thought of them immediately,” Naumov said upon being named to Team USA. “I wish they could be here to experience it with me, but I do feel their presence and they are with me.”

Last summer, SC Boston announced the launch of a multifaceted campaign, called “Always Champions,” to memorialize Naumov’s parents as well as the other members of the skating community who lost their lives in the crash. The initiative calls for the establishment of three new awards — the Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov Legacy Award and the Jinna Han and Spencer Lane Awards for Excellence — as well as two new scholarship funds and a tribute wall at the Norwood facility that will feature stories and photos of each of the six club members.

All eyes will now turn towards Milan as SC Boston proudly cheers on their three Team USA representatives beginning on Friday, February 6. The men’s figure skating competition commences with the short program on February 10, with the pairs set to take the ice on February 15. The free skate program will take place on February 13 for the men and February 16 for pairs.

“Our entire club community is thrilled that Max, Emily and Spencer have made the Olympic team and will be representing the club, the town of Norwood, the city of Boston, and the United States at the upcoming games in Milan,” said Doug Zeghibe, CEO and executive director of the Skating Club of Boston. When you see these athletes every day, and you know their stories, and the challenges and obstacles they have overcome to get here — it both humbles and excites you. These kids fought so hard for their places on the team and we are incredibly proud of them. They are what it means to be an Olympian.”

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