Profile of Kristi Yamaguchi on Famous Like Me

photo © Andrea "Hoo" Chempinsky.

Figure Skating
Gold	1992	Ladies Singles

Kristi Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American figure skater.

She was born in Hayward, California, and grew up in Fremont, California where she attended Mission San Jose High School. With Rudy Galindo she won the junior pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1986. In 1988, Yamaguchi won the singles and, with Galindo, the pairs titles at the World Junior Championships. Yamaguchi and Galindo won the U.S. senior pairs title in 1989 and 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.

From 1990 on, Yamaguchi concentrated on singles competition. At the 1992 Winter Olympics she won the ladies singles gold medal. She also won the 1992 U.S. senior ladies title, and both the 1991 and 1992 World Championships. Unlike her rivals Midori Ito and Tonya Harding, Yamaguchi did not include the triple axel jump in her program, but compensated with superior artistry and inclusion of the triple lutz-triple toe loop jump combination. Oddly enough, while Yamaguchi regularly landed the relatively difficult triple lutz and triple flip jumps, she had problems with the comparatively easy triple salchow jump, landing it successfully only once in competition during the height of her career during the period from 1991 through 1992 -- this occurring at the 1992 U.S. national championships, at what is generally regarded to be her finest performance as a competitive singles skater.

Yamaguchi was the first woman to have won both the U.S. senior pairs and ladies figure skating titles since Yvonne Sherman in the late 1940's. Her former pairs partner, Rudy Galindo, became the first man to have won both the U.S. senior pairs and men's figure skating titles since Ken Shelley in 1972.

Yamaguchi began skating as a child, as physical therapy for her club feet. She is coached by Christy Ness.

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. She is now married to Bret Hedican, an NHL hockey player, and has one child, Keara Kiyomi Hedican.

She established the Always Dream Foundation for children in 1996.

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