Kristi Yamaguchi

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**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

Ladies' figure skating
Olympic medal record
Gold	1992 Albertville	Singles

Kristine Tsuya "Kristi" Yamaguchi (Kristi Hedican)^[1](born July 12, 1971) is an American figure skater and the 1992 Olympic Champion in women's singles. Yamaguchi also won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1991 and 1992 and a U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1992. She won two national titles in 1989 and 1990 and one junior world title in 1988 as a pairs skater with Rudy Galindo. In December 2005, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Yamaguchi was a local commentator on figure skating for San Francisco-area TV station KNTV (NBC 11) during the 2006 Winter Olympics.^[2]

On February 18, 2008, it was announced Kristi will be appearing on Season 6 of Dancing with the Stars.

1 Biography
2 Competitive highlights
- 2.1 Singles career
- 2.2 Pairs career
3 Filmography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] 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 sent to an internment camp during World War II, 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 her freshman year and transfered to Willow Glen High School in San Jose, Ca. where she graduated. Yamaguchi began skating as a child, as physical therapy for her club feet.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 ladies 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 long 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.

[edit] Endorsements

Though Yamaguchi won the gold medal, she would be 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, Disney 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".^[3]

She later received contracts with high fashion firms like Celanese Acetate, appeared in a "Got Milk" ad, and was featured on a Wheaties Box.

[edit] 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.^[4] 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 a current contestant on ABC's reality program Dancing with the Stars 6th season paired with Mark Ballas. In the second episode, they received scores of 9, 9, and 9 for a total of 27. This was the highest first week score in the show's history. The next week she received a score of 9, 9, and 9 again. This makes her holding the 1st place spot for 3 weeks in a row.

[edit] Competitive highlights

[edit] 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

[edit] 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