Kazakhstan's first Olympic figure-skating champion Denis Ten has been stabbed to death at 25, local news agency Kazinform reported.
The agency said Ten was attacked and stabbed yesterday afternoon (local time) by two unknown men who were trying to rob him in the country's largest city, Almaty.
"Unfortunately, he is not with us anymore," Ministry of Healthcare spokesman Yernar Akimkulov was quoted as saying.
The agency said Ten lost three litres of blood and although physicians were fighting to save him, he died after clinging to his life for almost three hours.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Kalmukhanbet Kassymov and Minister of Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov vowed the attack would be thoroughly investigated.
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Ten was "a true patriot", the BBC reported.
"His outstanding achievements glorified our country and helped popularise sport among youth," the BBC reported Mr Nazarbayev as saying.
"Denis was not only a prominent athlete whose talent was recognised and revered in many countries of the world, but also a man of marked individuality, a true patriot."
Ten was a two-time world championship medallist and a five-time national champion of Kazakhstan.
He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and finished 27th at February's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
International Skating Union said Ten was a "true ambassador for figure-skating".
American figure-skater Adam Rippon said on Twitter that Ten was "a huge inspiration to me and so many other people".
Canadian skater Patrick Chan, who won silver in Sochi 2014, said he would cherish memories made with Ten forever.
