Denis Ten

Denis Yurievich Ten (; 13 June 1993 – 19 July 2018) was a Kazakhstani figure skater. Following the eighth and final Junior Grand Prix event, Ten became the first skater from Kazakhstan to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, for which he was the seventh qualifier.

Ten mentioned in interviews that he had landed the quad jump at the end of 2008, but an injury forced him to scale down training of the jump. After he made his Senior debut in the 2009–10 Grand Prix series, where he was assigned to the 2009 Cup of China and the 2009 Skate Canada International. He placed tenth at the 2009 Cup of China with 182.63 points, and seventh at the 2009 Skate Canada scoring 193.33 overall.

At the 2010 Four Continents, he earned 70.50 points in the short program, where he placed fourth. He came in fourteenth position in the free skate scoring 102.15 after falling on two of his jumps. He finished tenth with a combined score of 172.65 points.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Ten received a score of 76.24 points in the short program, placing tenth. He was fourteenth in the free skate with 135.01 points to finish eleventh overall with a total score of 211.25. At Skate America, he also placed sixth in the short program but dropped to 11th overall after the long program.

Ten won the gold medal at the 2011 Asian Winter Games with a first place in the short program and third in the long.

2011–2012 season Ten was assigned to 2011 Skate America and 2011 Skate Canada International.

2012–2013 season

Ten placed 6th at 2012 Skate Canada International, 9th at 2012 Rostelecom Cup and 12th at the 2013 Four Continents Championships. Later he explained that he had a series of injuries during the earlier part of the season, which prevented him from performing to his capacity.

In June 2013, Carroll and Ten moved to the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California.

In February 2014, Ten competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He placed ninth in the short program, third in the free skate, and won the bronze medal

2015–2016 season Ten planned to start the season at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic, but had to withdraw due to an injury.

Ten withdrew from the 2016 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, again due to an injury. After that, he placed 2nd at the 2016 Coupe du Printemps competition with a new free skating program, Romeo and Juliet. At the competition, he attempted a quad salchow jump in his free skating.

2016–2017 season Ten withdrew from the 2016 Skate America. He placed tenth at the Asian Winter Games, and ended the season with a sixteenth-place finish at the World Championships. During this season, Ten mainly worked with Nikolai Morozov.

2018–2019 season According to Lori Nichol, Ten had a plan to create his short program with her in Toronto at the end of July. By 2015, he began working on his MBA program (Oil and Gas) at the Business School of the Kazakh-British Technical University. After being stabbed, Ten lost about of blood and died from the severe blood loss at the Central Clinical Hospital in Almaty, three hours after being admitted.

The Kazakhstan Minister of Culture and Sport Arystanbek Muhamediuly paid tribute to Ten, saying "Denis Ten was an incredible figure skater, the legend of our sport, our pride." Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner, and Mirai Nagasu, who used to train with Ten, also paid tribute to him, along with several other international figure skaters including Patrick Chan, Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Yuna Kim, Evgenia Medvedeva, Li Zijun, and many others. IOC president Thomas Bach stated, "Denis Ten was a great athlete and a great ambassador for his sport. A warm personality and a charming man. Such a tragedy to lose him at such a young age."

The two suspects—both male, one aged 23 and the other 24 years old—were apprehended the next day. In January 2019, they were sentenced to 18 years in a penal colony.

A civil funeral service for Ten took place on 21 July 2018 in Almaty. Ten's coffin was taken to the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, where friends, family, and members of the public gathered to pay their respects. A mourning rally was also held at the Barys Arena in Astana.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2018–2019 Adios Nonino Per Te

Cinema Paradiso 2010–2011 In 2026, a previously nameless street in Almaty was named after Denis Ten.

Debuting in 2019, the Denis Ten Memorial Challenge is an annual figure skating competition held in Kazakhstan and named in his honor.

After winning the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics and becoming the first Kazakh Olympic figure skating champion, Mikhail Shaidorov dedicated his win to Ten stating, "It would have probably meant a lot to Denis because he paved the road for us. He paved the road for young athletes, not only for me. Perhaps this road was very thorny for him and for me, but that's the way things turned out, and I want to thank Denis for what he did for our sport, for our country. It means a lot for me and for my country because I really want to see our sport to grow in Kazakhstan. I will do everything to make that happen and I hope that little kids will sign up for this sport, that there will be conditions that encourage that, and that this medal will bring a lot of motivation to young athletes who will now know that there are no limits at all."