Kazakhstan's figure-skating star Denis Ten speaks about his Olympic victory

Denis Ten, a 20-y.o. figure-skating star from Kazakhstan, has climbed from the 9th place after the short program to the Olympic bronze in the men's free skating in Sochi. It was Kazakhstan's first and so far the only medal at this year's Olympic Games.

Denis Ten shared his feelings about the victory with Tengrinews.
"These Olympic Games are very special for me. It is a totally different level of competition than the one I felt in Vancouver. I am an established sportsman now. When skating here I felt the responsibility and now I am very pleased that I represented my country decently at such an important event," he said.

Denis Ten was the only one of the top seven to skate clean, with Yuzuru Hanyu claiming a first gold for Japan despite falling twice ahead of three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Canada who made three mistakes.

"I was satisfied with my skating and pleased that despite all the difficulties I was experiencing this season I managed to overcome everything and perform well in Sochi," he said about his skating.

After claiming silver at last year's worlds, Ten had high excellent changes at the Olympics, but they were undermined by a skin infection, back pain, an injured ankle and painful dental surgery.