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Kristi Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12 1971) is an
United States|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 jump|lutz-triple toe loop
jump|toe loop jump combination.  Oddly enough,
while Yamaguchi regularly landed the relatively
difficult triple lutz and triple flip jump|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 foot|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 National Hockey League|NHL hockey
player, and has one child, Keara Kiyomi Hedican.

She established the Always Dream Foundation for
children in 1996.  

==Trivia==

Yamaguchi was the subject of the charcater Seymour
Skinner lame calls against children in the popluar
animated sitcom The Simpsons. "I don't care if
you're Kristi Yamaguchi!". 

==External links==
* http://www.alwaysdream.org AlwaysDream.org:
Kristi's official website
* http://www.kristifans.com/ KristiFans.com: Fan
website