Daniel Petrenko’s best friend, Maxim Naumov, will compete as an Olympic figure skater for the first time Tuesday and Petrenko, who is the director of figure skating at the International Skating Center of Simsbury, is in Italy cheering him on.
Naumov grew up in Simsbury where his parents Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were skaters and coaches at the International Skating Center, along with Petrenko’s parents Vladimir and Elena and Daniel and Maxim grew up together. Last January, Naumov’s parents – who were also his coaches – were among 67 people who died in a plane crash in Washington, D.C., along with other figure skaters, coaches and parents who were returning from the national chanpionships.
Naumov turned to Daniel’s parents, Vladimir and Elana, to coach him last July and in January, he fulfilled his parents’ dream by making the Olympic team. Naumov will skate Tuesday in the short program, which starts at 12:30 p.m. EST.
Here is Petrenko’s report from his first day in Italy:
“On my first full day in Milan, fighting the jet lag, we trekked from our apartment into the city as we’re staying closer to the figure skating arena. The transportation has been very easy to use, so getting into the center of Milan was a breeze. Our metro stop arrived right near the first landmark we saw, the Sfroza Castle. While we planned to go later in the week, we still walked through and saw the large fortress that it is. Near it was a mini Olympic area for the public to buy and see various Olympic experiences that then led right to the torch! That is where we saw some familiar faces, coach Vladimir and Elena!
“With that, we had to make it official by eating some pasta, pizza, and drinking some wine! We continued by taking the tram to see the next landmark, the Duomo! As we walked closer we realized how small we are as the church towered over us. We walked around the shops inside the Galleria but then briefly met up with Max to wish him good luck before the big day tomorrow! He’s very excited and we’re all rooting for him!”
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