MOSCOW — Olympic figure skating
Ten was stabbed after a dispute with people who allegedly tried to steal a mirror from his car in his home city of Almaty, Kazakh news agencies reported. Doctors in Almaty say the 25-year-old skater died in the hospital there.
Born in Kazakhstan to a family of Korean descent, Ten's bronze at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 made him Kazakhstan's first
Canadian skater Patrick Chan, who won silver in the same competition, said on Twitter he was "
Other Canadians offered their condolences on Twitter.
"So sad to hear of Denis Ten's tragic passing. He was as kind as he was talented," posted ice dance star Scott Moir. "It was an honour to share the ice with him. You will be greatly missed, Denis."
Added four-time world champion Kurt Browning: "With the loss of Denis Ten the skating world lost one of our future leaders. Having recently worked with him, I was in awe of his vision and love for the world. He had infinite resources to offer and so willing to share."
The International Skating Union said it was "deeply saddened" by news of Ten's death.
"His shining achievements brought glory to our country and helped popularize sport among young people," Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said. "Denis was not only an excellent athlete, whose talents was recognized and
Ten also won the Four Continents championships in 2015, and was a world championship silver
Ten struggled with injuries in recent years and could manage only 27th at the Pyeongchang Olympics in February.
Ten hadn't formally retired from skating, but in recent months he'd often spoken of his studies in economics and his plans to write a movie script.
"Independently of what happens in the future, I realize that I had a great career, where everything happened — highs and lows, medals and disappointments, nice memories and not so nice ones, unique events, meetings and many magical things," Ten said in September in an interview with the ISU
"Somewhere I realize that I was a really lucky person with a quite fulfilled sports life."
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Altynai Sagyndykova in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, contributed to this report.
James Ellingworth, The Associated Press