CLOSE Denis Ten, the 2014 Olympic figure skating bronze medalist, was stabbed to death in Kazakhstan on Thursday. He was 25 years old. Time 
 
 Denis Ten of Kazakhstan won bronze at the Sochi Games. (Photo: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sport) 
 
 Kazakh figure skater and Olympic medalist Denis Ten died Thursday after being stabbed in an attack in the streets of the country's largest city, a top Kazakh official confirmed on social media. He was 25. 
 
 Kazakh Minister of Culture and Sports Arystanbek Mukhamediuly wrote in a Facebook post that Ten, the first figure skater from Kazakhstan to earn an Olympic medal, died of stab wounds after thieves tried to steal the mirrors off his car in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 
 
 An emergency surgery to save Ten's life was unsuccessful, Mukhamediuly added. 
 
 "This is an unthinkable tragedy and irreparable loss," Mukhamediuly wrote in the post, according to a translation from Kazakh news agency Kazinform. 
 
 The International Skating Union and International Olympic Committee also confirmed Ten's death on Twitter on Thursday morning. 
 
 "Denis Ten was a great athlete and a great ambassador for his sport," IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement. "A warm personality and a charming man. Such a tragedy to lose him at such a young age." 
 
 Ten was one of Kazakhstan's most accomplished individual athletes and its most prominent figure skater. He twice medaled at the World Figure Skating Championships — earning a silver in 2013 and a bronze in 2015 — and won bronze at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. 
 
 U.S. Olympian Adam Rippon was among those in the figure-skating community to pay tribute to Ten on social media. 
 
 "(Ten) was so kind to everyone and a huge inspiration to me and so many other people," Rippon wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning. "Murdered in the streets of Kazakhstan. Denis, thank you for showing us how to be a champion. Your time with us was way too short. Love you forever." 
 
 My skating friend, @Tenis_Den, passed away today. He was so kind to everyone and a huge inspiration to me and so many other people. Murdered in the streets of Kazakhstan. Denis, thank you for showing us how to be a champion. Your time with us was way too short. Love you forever. — Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) July 19, 2018 
 
 Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad. ||||| (CNN) Tributes are being paid to Denis Ten, Kazakhstan's Olympic medal-winning figure skater, who died Thursday at the age of 25 after being stabbed. 
 
 Ten, who became the first Kazakh figure skater to win an Olympic medal when he secured bronze at Sochi 2014, was stabbed as two men attempted to steal his car mirrors, according to news agency Kazinform 
 
 The former world silver medalist was taken to the hospital after the attack in Almaty, the country's largest city, but died later of his injuries. 
 
 American figure skater Adam Rippon described Ten as a "huge inspiration." 
 
 Rippon wrote on Twitter: "My skating friend, @Tenis_Den, passed away today. He was so kind to everyone and a huge inspiration to me and so many other people. 
 
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– Kazakhstan is in mourning for a beloved Olympic athlete who was murdered by thieves on a street in the country's biggest city. Authorities in the central Asian country say Denis Ten, a 25-year-old figure skater, was fatally stabbed in Almaty by two men who had been trying to steal the wing mirrors from his car, CNN reports. He was hospitalized but died from his injuries Thursday. Ten, one of Kazakhstan's most famous athletes, won bronze at the 2014 Olympics and earned a silver medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in 2013, followed by a bronze in 2015, USA Today reports. American figure skater Adam Rippon was among many people paying tribute to Ten Thursday. "He was so kind to everyone and a huge inspiration to me and so many other people," Rippon tweeted. "Murdered in the streets of Kazakhstan. Denis, thank you for showing us how to be a champion. Your time with us was way too short. Love you forever." Ten "was a great athlete and a great ambassador for his sport," International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach said in a statement. "Such a tragedy to lose him at such a young age."