Archival footage of Denis Ten and Mikhail Shaidorov goes viral online
The video
Archival footage from a documentary has appeared online. It shows a very young Mikhail Shaidorov attending Denis Ten’s master class and watching his senior colleague closely and attentively.
Today, social media users are emphasizing how symbolic this footage looks.
Mikhail Shaidorov on Denis Ten
Mikhail Shaidorov, gold medallist of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, spoke after his victory in men’s singles about Denis Ten’s role in the development of figure skating in Kazakhstan.
“I believe my medal would have meant a lot to Denis Ten. He was the one who opened the road for us. That road was thorny for him and thorny for me. And I want to express my gratitude to Denis for what he did for our sport,” Mikhail Shaidorov said.
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Публикация от TengriNews | Новости Казахстана (@tengrinewskz)
Historic gold
As a reminder, the leader of Kazakhstan’s men’s figure skating team, Mikhail Shaidorov, became the champion of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
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Публикация от TengriNews | Новости Казахстана (@tengrinewskz)
After the short program, the Kazakh skater was in fifth place (92.94 points), but in the free skate he scored 198.64 points and, with a total of 291.58, moved up to first place. His program included five quadruple jumps.
The silver medal went to Yuma Kagiyama of Japan (280.06 points), and bronze to his compatriot Shun Sato (274.90 points).
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Публикация от ISU Figure Skating ⛸ (@isufigureskating)
This victory is Kazakhstan’s second gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics and the first in figure skating. The country’s first Winter Olympic gold was won in 1994 by cross-country skier Vladimir Smirnov.
Previously, Kazakhstan’s best result in Olympic figure skating was the bronze medal won by Denis Ten in 2014.
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Публикация от ISU Figure Skating ⛸ (@isufigureskating)
Denis Ten
He was born on 13 June 1993 in Almaty. At the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, Denis Ten won a historic bronze medal, becoming the first Olympic medallist in figure skating in Kazakhstan’s history.
Denis was also the silver medallist at the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships, bronze medallist at the 2015 World Championships, winner of the 2015 Four Continents Championships, and champion of the 7th Winter Asian Games.
In July 2018, Denis Ten died in Almaty after being attacked by car thieves.
Since 2019, an annual tournament, the Denis Ten Memorial, has been held in his honour.
It is worth noting that Mikhail Shaidorov won this tournament in 2024 and 2025.
Thanks to figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov, Kazakhstan’s national anthem returned to the Winter Olympic Games for the first time since 1994.