Gold medallist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan celebrates with his national flag after winning the Men Single Skating. Shaidorov's Olympic gold carries a profound emotional weight for Kazakhstan, not only as the country's first of these Games, but only the second ever in Olympic figure skating for the nation of about 20 million people. Denis Ten was the country's trailblazer in figure skating, winning Olympic bronze in 2014, but he was stabbed to death by two robbers in 2018 in a parking lot in Almaty. It was a loss that devastated the skating world and left a void in Kazakhstan's sporting identity. "I think Denis Ten influenced not just me but all figure skaters in Kazakhstan," Shaidorov said.

Source: New Strait Times February 14, 2026 07:49 UTC