Kristi Yamaguchi

Olympic medal record
Ladies' figure skating
Gold	1992 Albertville	Singles

Kristi Yamaguchi

Personal Info
Country:	United States
Date of birth:	July 12 1971 (1971-07-12) (age 36)
Former Partner:	Rudy Galindo
Former Coach:	Christy Ness
Skating Club:	St. Moritz ISC
Retired:	1992
ISU Personal Best Scores

Kristi Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American figure skater. She is the 1992 Olympic Champion. In December 2005, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Pairs career 1.2 Singles career 1.3 Endorsements 1.4 Professional & Personal life 2 Competitive highlights 2.1 Singles career 2.2 Pairs career 3 Notes 4 External links 5 Navigation

Biography

Kristi Yamaguchi was born on July 12, 1971 in Hayward, California, to Jim Yamaguchi, a dentist, and Carole Doi, a medical secretary. A third-generation Japanese American, Kristi’s parents and grandparents were victims of the United States' anti-Japanese policies during World War II and were sent to an internment camp, where her mother was born. Kristi and her siblings, Brett and Lori, grew up in Fremont, California, where Kristi attended Mission San Jose High School. Yamaguchi began skating as a child, as physical therapy for her club feet.

Pairs career

With Rudy Galindo she won the junior title at the U.S. championships in 1986. Two years later, Yamaguchi won the singles and, with Galindo, the pairs titles at the 1988 World Junior Pair Championships. In 1989 Yamaguchi and Galindo won the senior U.S. championships pairs title and won again in 1990. As a pairs team, Yamaguchi and Galindo were unusual in that they were both accomplished singles skaters, and in that they jumped and spun in opposite directions, Yamaguchi counter-clockwise, and Galindo clockwise. In 1990, Yamaguchi decided to focus solely on singles. Galindo went on to have a successful singles career as well, winning the 1996 U.S. championships and the 1996 World bronze medal.

Singles career

In 1991, Yamaguchi moved to Edmonton, Alberta to train with coach Christy Ness. The same year Yamaguchi placed second to Tonya Harding at the U.S. championships, her third consecutive silver medal at Nationals. The following month in Munich, Germany, Yamaguchi won the 1991 World Championships. That year the American ladies team, consisting of Yamaguchi, Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, became the first and only national team to have its members place first, second and third at Worlds. In 1992, Yamaguchi won her first U.S. title and gained a spot to the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France. Joining her on the U.S. team were again Kerrigan and Harding. While competitors Harding and Japan’s Midori Ito were consistently landing the difficult triple axel jump in competition, Yamaguchi instead focused on her artistry and her triple-triple combinations in hopes of becoming a more well-rounded skater. Both Harding and Ito fell on their triple axels at the Olympics, (though Ito successfully landed the jump later on in her program after missing it the first time) allowing Yamaguchi to win the gold, despite errors in her free program, including a step-out on a triple loop and a double salchow instead of a planned triple. Yamaguchi went on to successfully defend her World title that same year.

Endorsements

Though Yamaguchi won the gold medal, she would be somewhat overshadowed in publicity and endorsements by Nancy Kerrigan who later endured the highly publicized attack staged by teammate Harding. Yamaguchi won endorsements deals from Wendy's and DuraSoft Colors contact lenses, but not high-profile, multimillion-dollar deals with corporate giants like Campbells or Pepsi. Some Asians were slighted that her Asian heritage may have put her at a disadvantage. Bill Imada, whose firm advises companies on marketing to Asian Americans observes that for marketers "People like Kristi Yamaguchi don't represent, at least with marketers, the wholesome all-American image".^[1]

Professional & Personal life

Kristi Yamaguchi turned professional after the 1992 competitive season. She toured for many years with Stars on Ice and was also a fixture on the pro competition circuit. In recent years she has cut back on her skating schedule to concentrate on family life. Since July 8, 2000 she has been married to Bret Hedican, an NHL hockey player she initially met at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Yamaguchi and Hedican, who is currently with the Carolina Hurricanes, reside in Raleigh, North Carolina with their two daughters, Keara Kiyomi, born on October 1 2003 and Emma Yoshiko, born on November 17, 2005 in Raleigh, North Carolina.^[2] She also made a guest appearance as herself in the Disney Channel original movie Go Figure. In 1996, she established the Always Dream Foundation for children. She is good friends with fellow figure skaters Michelle Kwan and Kurt Browning.

Competitive highlights

Singles career

Event/Season	1988-1989	1989-1990	1990-1991	1991-1992
Winter Olympics				1st
World Championships	6th	4th	1st	1st
U.S. Championships	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st

Pairs career

(with Galindo)

Event	1984-1985	1985-1986	1986-1987	1987-1988	1988-1989	1989-1990
World Championships					5th	5th
World Junior Championships		5th	3rd	1st
U.S. Championships	5th J.	1st J.	5th	5th	1st	1st
Skate America			5th			2nd
NHK Trophy					3rd	4th
Skate Electric					1st

• J = Junior level

Notes

1. ^ http://themanmc.tripod.com/articles/kristimc.html] "From tennis rackets to tinted contacts: Nelson Wang looks at the major league game of athletic endorsements, to find out if Asian Americans get fair play"
2. ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1134126,00.html

External links

• AlwaysDream.org: Kristi's official website
• Kristi Yamaguchi's U.S. Olympic Team bio
• olympic.org Athlete Profile - Yamaguchi
• Yamaguchi induction into US Olympic Hall of Fame
• Kristi Yamaguchi at the Internet Movie Database
• Kristi Yamaguchi interview

Navigation

Preceded by Nawal El Moutawakel

Flo Hyman Memorial Award 2004

Succeeded by none

•  • e United States national champions in figure skating – Pairs

1914: Jeanne Chevalier / Norman M. Scott · 1918: Theresa Weld / Nathaniel Niles · 1920–1927: Theresa Weld / Nathaniel Niles · 1928–1929: Maribel Vinson / Thornton Coolidge · 1930–1932: Beatrix Loughran / Sherwin Badger · 1933: Maribel Vinson / George Hill · 1934: Grace Madden / J. Lester Madden · 1935–1937: Maribel Vinson / George Hill · 1938–1940: Joan Tozzer / Bernard Fox · 1941: Donna Atwood / Eugene Turner · 1942–1944: Doris Schubach / Walter Noffke · 1945–1946: Donna J. Pospisil / Jean-Pierre Brunet · 1947: Yvonne Sherman / Robert Swenning · 1948–1952: Karol Kennedy / Peter Kennedy · 1953–1956: Carole Ormaca / Robin Greiner · 1957–1960: Nancy Ludington / Ronald Ludington · 1961: Maribel Owen / Dudley Richards · 1962: Dorothyann Nelson / Pieter Kollen · 1963–1964: Judianne Fotheringill / Jerry Fotheringill · 1965: Vivian Joseph / Ronald Joseph · 1966–1969: Cynthia Kauffman / Ronald Kauffman · 1970–1972: JoJo Starbuck / Kenneth Shelley · 1973: Melissa Militano / Mark Miltano · 1974–1975: Melissa Militano / Johnny Johns · 1976–1980: Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner · 1981–1984: Kitty Carruthers / Peter Carruthers · 1985: Jill Watson / Peter Oppegard · 1986: Gillian Wachsman / Todd Waggoner · 1987–1988: Jill Watson / Peter Oppegard · 1989–1990: Kristi Yamaguchi / Rudy Galindo · 1991: Natasha Kuchiki / Todd Sand · 1992–1993: Calla Urbanski / Rocky Marval · 1994–1996: Jenni Meno / Todd Sand · 1997–1998: Kyoko Ina / Jason Dungjen · 1999: Danielle Hartsell / Stephen Hartsell · 2000–2002: Kyoko Ina / John Zimmerman · 2003: Tiffany Scott / Philip Dulebohn · 2004: Rena Inoue / John Baldwin · 2005: Katie Orscher / Garrett Lucash · 2006: Rena Inoue / John Baldwin · 2007: Brooke Castile / Benjamin Okolski

•  • e World Junior champions in figure skating – Pairs

1976: Sherri Baier & Robin Cowan · 1977: Josée France & Paul Mills · 1978: Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini · 1979: Veronika Pershina & Marat Akbarov · 1980–1981: Larisa Selezneva & Oleg Makarov · 1982–1893: Marina Avstriskaia & Yuri Kvashnin · 1984: Manuela Landgraf & Ingo Steuer · 1985: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov · 1986–1987: Elena Leonova & Gennadi Krasnitski · 1988: Kristi Yamaguchi & Rudy Galindo · 1989: Evgenia Chernisheva & Dmitri Sukhanov · 1990–1992: Natalia Krestianinova & Alexei Torchinski · 1993: Inga Korshunova & Dmitry Saveliev · 1994–1995: Maria Petrova & Anton Sikharulidze · 1996: Victoria Maxiuta & Vladislav Zhovnirski · 1997: Danielle Hartsell & Steve Hartsell · 1998–1999: Julia Obertas & Dmitri Palamarchuk · 2000: Aliona Savchenko & Stanislav Morozov · 2001: Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao · 2002: Elena Riabchuk & Stanislav Zakarov · 2003: Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao · 2004: Natalia Shestakova & Pavel Lebedev · 2005: Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov · 2006: Julia Vlassov & Drew Meekins · 2007: Keauna McLaughlin & Rockne Brubaker