OLYMPICS: Figure Skating: Rising star Ten carrying Kazakh hope

Vancouver (AFP) - Kazakh teenager Denis Ten will be carrying the hopes of his country when, thanks to him, they make their Olympic figure skating debut in Vancouver. The 16-year-old's eighth-place finish at last year's worlds enabled his country to secure two spots in the men's competition in Vancouver where he will compete with teammate Abzal Rakimgaliev. "I'm very pleased that thanks to my good performance last year, I'm able to compete with Abzal," said Ten, a descendant of famous Korean General Min Keung Ho, whose family are part of the Korean minority in Kazakhstan. "It is a nice feeling to have made history already, but I don't want to leave it at that." The teenager, the youngest male figure skater at the Games, has been enjoying his Olympic experience since arriving on Friday. "It is different. Before, I felt more that I was skating for myself, but now I'm skating for my country", Ten said. "There is more pressure and now I understand how hard it must be for (Canada's) Patrick Chan. Everybody is rooting for him." Ten was able to test his feet on the ice at the Pacific Coliseum ahead of Tuesday's men's short programme, and he nailed solid triple axels to earn the applause of the crowd in practice. "It's great for me to practise on the same ice with such accomplished skaters as Stephane Lambiel and Patrick Chan," he said. "I need to focus on my own stuff, but at the same time it is hard not to watch them." Ten moved to Moscow when he was ten years old to train with Elena Buianova, the 1983 world bronze medallist. Buianova has high hopes for her protege, the first skater from Kazakhstan to medal at an ISU competition with his gold at 2008 Junior Grand Prix. "Denis is just very talented," she said. "In real life, he is actually rather quiet. Very quiet, very shy, but he transforms on the ice and becomes so emotional. He jumps easily, like a cat. He has phenomenal jumping ability."

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