International Figure Skating – September-October 2019

junior champion, who had trained with

Ten at the CSKA ice rink in Moscow in

the early days of their careers. “So many

people came and said nice words and I think

it was very important in the memory of

Denis,” the 20-year-old said. “He did a lot

for his country and for figure skating, and

those who knew him well know how he

was able to motivate people. He had a big

impact. The memory of this person should

never extinguish.”

Radionova recalled first meeting Ten at

the rink when she was about 7 years old. “I

remember that Denis always tried to help

and to support. He helped me on the ice and

gave me advice. It was an honor for me to

skate with him on the same ice. He already

had a good name at the time and I was just

starting. Therefore, I always wanted to try

my best and show that I want to try and be

like him. This motivated me a lot.

“We always got along very well and had

a common language. We could talk about

serious topics and laugh about fun things.

Our communication was always cheerful

and he always had something interesting

to say. As many people said, he was a very

reasonable, interesting, deep person and

for me, it was interesting to talk with him

because he knew many things and was

excellent company.

“The most important thing for him was

not who you are — you could be a well-

known person or someone simple. He was

very modest even though he was the pride

of Kazakhstan. He behaved like a simple

person and that was really cool because

many people that achieve success don’t

remain that open, good natured and candid.

But Denis kept that, and this of course was

a strong quality.”

Abbott said it was a very emotional day

being in Ten’s hometown where everything

happened, and to be with his parents, family

and friends. “They all had something to say.

A lot of it I couldn’t understand, but I could

feel their spirit and their love through their

words. It was really touching and also very

sad. When we went to the monument, I felt

a lot of emotions that I wasn’t prepared for.

It was a lot to deal with and to process at

that moment.

“When we went to the cemetery, I

felt much more at peace, much more

introspective. But it really hit me the

most when we went to the ice rink for the

Fans have created their own unofficial memorial in Almaty.

The headstone

on the grave of

Denis Ten.

PH
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:^ TA

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