ALMATY, September 17. /TASS/. Russian figure skaters Alexandra Trusova, Petr Gumennik and Vladislav Dikidzhi will participate in next month's ISU Denis Ten Memorial Challenge tournament in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Oxana Ten, the head of the tournament’s organizing body, said on Thursday.

"We are very glad that our audience will be able to see the performance of Olympic medalists and world champions such as Alexandra Trusova, Petr Gumennik and the well·known Russian figure skater Dikidzhi," she said at a press conference.

She recalled that the International Skating Union (ISU) recently permitted Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions under a neutral status starting from the 2026/27 season.

"We are very happy. We'll take some lessons from such experienced figure skaters, watching their beautiful skating and complex jumps," Ten, the mother of the late figure skater, added.

About the competition

The 2026 ISU Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, which is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), will run from October 7-10. The competition, which first took place in 2019, is organized and hosted by the Denis Ten Foundation and the Kazakhstan Skating Union. The Denis Ten Memorial Challenge has been a Challenger Series event on the ISU calendar every year since 2021. Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating and ice dance competitions.

Participation of Russian figure skaters in int’l competitions

In March 2022, the ISU suspended Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international tournaments supervised by the organization due to the developments in Ukraine.

At the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the ISU allowed two Russian figure skaters to participate under a neutral status - Adelia Petrosyan and Petr Gumennik.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a decision in July to reinstate the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and also recommended lifting restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes in all international tournaments, including both in individual and team competitions.

Starting from the 2026/27 season, the International Skating Union allowed Russian figure skaters to participate in international competitions in a neutral status.

Denis Ten’s tragic death

Ten, the bronze medalist at the 2018 Sochi Olympics, died in a hospital in Almaty in July 2018 after he had been assaulted by two unidentified suspects and sustained a knife wound. According to Almaty’s police, he spotted two unknown suspects trying to dismount and steal the side-mirrors of his car at about midday on July 19. As a result of the ensuing brawl with the suspects, the 25-year-old figure skater was stabbed and taken to a hospital, where he died three hours later despite enormous efforts by the medical staff to save his life.

Besides winning the Olympic bronze at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia’s Sochi, Denis Ten also grabbed the Figure Skating World Championship’s silver and bronze in 2013 and 2015 respectively.