Denis Ten: Kazakhstan's bright future

Denis Ten of Kazakhstan poses after winning the bronze medal in the Figure Skating Men's Free Skating during Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Iceberg Skating Palace. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

SOCHI, February 14, 2014 - The small Kazakhstani crowd in the Iceberg Skating Palace explodes with enthusiasm: Denis Ten, their figure skating hero, has secured the bronze medal in the men’s single free skating program. Without the Russian idol Evgeny Plushenko, all eyes were on Japan’s Yuzury Hanyu, who, despite that despite the double dip in his free program routine confirmed himself at the top of the world, mostly due to the record score obtained in his short program (101.45). The other special of the short program came from Javier Fernandez, European champion, who attained a legendary third place for Spain on Thursday,  only to be disillusioned after getting a lower score than expected after the free program. 

On the men’s deciding final night, no one gave much of a second thought to Denis Ten, born in the Kazakhstani capital Almaty, on June 13, 1993. No one, that is except the Kazakhstani fans who had come to Sochi to cheer the hero on, knowing deep down that at the Olympics, everything is possible. 

FAMILY The main character in Denis’s story is his mother: "She's a wonderful woman, and is also his manager,” says Ilyas T. Omarov, press-secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. “His family is not very rich and they have managed to afford everything thanks to her determination, along with the support of his father who is also here in Sochi. This medal is not just his, but also but also belongs to his mother". 

HOPE "He is the hero of Kazakhstan, we love him and we are so proud of his medal, to us it’s gold.” This was the first reaction of two young girls who had made the trip to Sochi, because they were "friends of Kazakhstan". "He is very clever and smart, a really intelligent guy and a very talented sportsman. It is the first medal in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games for us, and we are delighted.” Denis was the great hope of Kazakhstan and has now achieved a great result for both him and his nation: "He is the best athlete of our Olympic team, after the short program his trainer said that we could hope for a medal and it happened!"

SKATING IN KAZAKHSTAN “He is the ambassador of figure skating in our country,” insists Omarov. “He introduced the basic principle of the sport to Kazakhstan, and even organized a special show in Almaty, the capital, which brought a lot of figure skating stars .”

Italy’s figure skating champion Caroline Kostner is a friend of Denis: "Caroline Kostner's uncle built a church in Almaty long time ago, reveals the press officer, “so there is a connection there.”

“Denis is very young, but extremely dedicated; he has a bright future ahead,” concluded Omarov. We are all looking forward to seeing it.

Denis is the 2013 World silver medalist, the 2011 Asian Winter Games champion and a three-time national champion of Kazakhstan.