Word: galindo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...kiss-and-cry" area afterward, Galindo, Laura and his friend, choreographer John Brancato, exulted, hugging, weeping, leaping around. It looked as if they already knew he had won. But the champ describes three distinct stages of elation: first, when he was sure he had skated well enough to make the world team; second, when the first of two perfect scores of 6.0 was flashed; third, when the computer pushed his name up to first place...
...truth, no matter how spectacular Galindo is in Canada, it will be tough to match his triumph before the home folks. It was one of those ineffable moments when the audience sensed almost from the start that this athlete is triumphant, truly unbeatable. He seemed to fly through the long program, set to the surging, romantic music of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Dick Button, the unflappable ABC commentator, shouted, "Now that's guts." His less experienced microphone partner, Brian Boitano, was reduced to giggles of delight. Ken Shelley, the last man to win the nationals in both single and pairs...
...Galindo also chanted four names: Jess, George, Jim, Rick. He is known as a hard-luck skater for good reason. Galindo has been a national winner previously, but as 1992 Olympic ladies champion Kristi Yamaguchi's pairs partner. In 1990, two years before they were to go to the Olympics, she told him she was devoting all her energy to solo competition. Galindo was upset, not so much for himself as for his father. Jess, a trucker, was in dire health at the time, and he told Rudy he was holding on to see him make the Olympic team. Says...
...Galindo had much more to deal with than himself. His pairs coach, Jim Hulick, had already died of AIDS, and his next mentor, Rick Inglesi, also became stricken with the disease. (He died last year.) Jess Galindo eventually succumbed to a heart attack in 1993. Finally, Rudy's brother George, 10 years his senior, contracted AIDS. The period before George's death, also in 1993, was a parlous time for Galindo. "For eight months, I drove George to the hospital every day," he says. "I carried him to the bath and changed his diapers. I got numb...
...Galindo privately vowed to rebuild his career. He dieted his way from 160 pounds to 135. "For pairs you need lifting strength. For singles you need to be light enough to jump well." But he became a chronic advice taker, and not of the push, push, push variety. Judges and other rinkside seers are very free with their opinions. Says the skater: "They'd say, 'Skate faster, put in a spin here, more footwork there.' It was a great mistake to listen...