Word: yamaguchi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...queen is crowned: America's Kristi Yamaguchi...
...something I've dreamed of ever since I put on skates as a little girl." (She is still little, shoe size 3.) At age 20, Kristi Yamaguchi, of Fremont, Calif., faced the international press, blissfully fingering her gold medal. She had nothing else to say. No thoughts about what she would do next year, or what she would do tomorrow. She had just made it through the arduous course of a fairy tale: pluck vs. luck...
...competition ended exactly as it should have. Yamaguchi was the most consistent athlete and freshest stylist. Skating to Lecuona's Malaguena, she showed the delicacy and pace that make her a joy to watch. In the long -- 4- min. -- format she fumbled one triple jump, but everyone else in contention did at least that. In the current high-vaulting, teeter-totter world of skating, to jump is to survive, to land upright is to prevail...
...Yamaguchi withstood a strong challenge from Japan's Midori Ito, who lifted the crowd as she courageously hurtled her way to a silver medal after placing a disappointing fourth in the original program. The most famous athlete in her country, Ito had earlier seemed almost crushed by the weight of her flag and the expectations back home. The bronze went to Nancy Kerrigan of Stoneham, Mass., an elegant, imperturbable skater who made a characteristic decision to scale back her jumps in her long program...
...Yamaguchi, Olympic glory is the culmination of a single-minded 14-year quest. She is a fourth-generation American, raised in Fremont, where her father is a dentist. Kristi was born with clubfeet, but the condition was corrected, and by six she was on the ice for keeps. For years she was a superior pairs skater as well and often competed solo with scant practice. It may be a result of giving up the dual assignment, or moving to Edmonton, Alberta, for training, or perhaps the onset of maturity, but in the past year or so she has forged...