Figure skater Rudy Galindo never quit. He did not give up when his skating partner--Kristi Yamaguchi--broke up their partnership just two years before the 1992 Winter Olympics. Galindo kept going when his father, older brother, and two skating coaches died. He also continued working when no one gave him a chance to win the men's competition at the 1996 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In front of a home town crowd, Galindo turned in the performance of his life, winning the national championship and making his dream come true.

Growing up

Truck driver's son

Rudy Galindo was born September 7, 1969, in San Jose, California. His grandparents on his father's side came to the United States from Mexico. Galindo's father, Jess, drove a truck for the United Technologies Corporation. He carried rocket fuel from Gilroy, California, to Carson City, Nevada.

The Galindo family lived in a trailer park in East San Jose...