/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dada9fb9e9b4de8f225ee9a916056d58.jpg»/medalist of the Olympic Games and World Championships Denis Ten. A man who was adored by absolutely everyone became a victim of bandits, who eventually received prison terms. At the same time, Denis's mother is sure that her son was «ordered».
Difficult beginning of a career
Figure skating has never been the number one sport in Kazakhstan, which made it very difficult for young Ten to train. Often he had to train on skating rinks in the shopping centers of his native city, there were simply no other opportunities. Cutting through a cafe with fast food in the area, he knew for sure that it was not all in vain and someday his efforts would definitely pay off.At the age of nine, he won a landslide victory in competitions in Moscow, and then came to the Crystal Horse tournament in Odintsovo, where he was noticed by the famous coach Elena Buyanova. She immediately saw great prospects in Denis and invited him to stay in Russia. The Tena family hesitated for a long time, but nevertheless decided to move to Russia.
Having received excellent conditions for training, Ten began to progress at a frantic pace. At the age of 12, he had already won the adult championship of Kazakhstan, but due to age restrictions in the International Skating Union (ISU), he was able to make his debut at the world level only a year later. This happened for the first time in the history of the country. Unfortunately, at the Games in Canada, Denis was too worried and could not rise above 11th place, but for Kazakhstan it was still a success.
Great successes
Another thing is that Ten's ambitions were clearly not limited to this. Four years later, at the Olympic Games in Sochi, he became a bronze medalist. Moreover, after the short program, he was only ninth, having fallen from the quadruple sheepskin coat. However, a clean free program and competitors' mistakes allowed him to take the medal. Denis became the only prize-winner from Kazakhstan at the Sochi Games.
To his triumph, he added two world championship medals and made figure skating one of the most popular sports in the country. However, after that, Ten's results went down, at the next Olympics in Pyeongchang, he became 15th. There were numerous injuries. What he managed to do during his professional career is amazing. He became a legend in the country, a man imitated by the youth.
In June 2018, Denis celebrated his 25th birthday and had many plans both in sports and in other areas of activity. He wanted to do everything. And he probably would have succeeded if not for July 19 of the same year. Ten came to Almaty for a few days and went to lunch at one of the restaurants in the city center.Leaving the establishment, he saw two men trying to remove the mirrors from his car. The figure skater ran to stop them, a fight ensued, during which the bandits stabbed him twice. The blade entered the femoral artery. Denis lost a huge amount of blood, and the doctors at the hospital were unable to save him. The police quickly arrested the two attackers. They turned out to be 24-year-old Nuraly Kiyasov and 23-year-old Arman Kudaibergenov.
A week later, law enforcement officers caught Zhanar Tolybayeva, an accomplice of the criminals. The first two were ultimately sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Tolybaeva to four. The police came to the conclusion that the whole trinity was just a group of thieves, but Denis's relatives assured him of the ordered nature of the crime.
Tena's mother Oksana pointed out the corresponding inconsistencies. According to her, the criminals arrived in Almaty the day before the murder and rented an expensive apartment, and then ended up at the right time in the right place, without taking any valuables. The accomplice called them up several times before the skater left the restaurant. According to the lawyer, the police also did not show due zeal when they found the athlete and did not help him. We will probably never know the truth.
Legendary Tatyana Tarasova, the merited coach of the Soviet Union, who had time to work with Ten, posted a very touching message on social networks. Until now, it is impossible to understand and accept. Denis, son, our boy, we will love you, remember you always,” Tarasova wrote.
Today Denis Ten would have been 30 years old…