Hall of Fame

Kristi Yamaguchi is an Olympic gold medalist figure skater and two-time world champion. Born in Hayward, California, Yamaguchi fell in love with figure skating at a young age, winning the pairs title at the 1988 World Junior Championships with skating partner Rudy Galindo. The pair would win the senior title at the U.S. championship each of the next two years. Yamaguchi also won three consecutive silver medals as an individual competitor at the U.S. championships from 1989 to 1991. She dropped out of pairs competition to focus on singles, and was rewarded with her first world championship title in 1991. At the Olympic Winter Games Albertville 1992, Yamaguchi won the gold and successfully defended her world title that same year. After her professional skating career, Yamaguchi established the Always Dream Foundation for children, aiming to provide funding for after-school programs, back-to-school clothes for underprivileged children and summer camps for children with disabilities. She is also a New York Times bestselling author, broadcast analyst and entertainment star. Yamaguchi was inducted into both the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the World Skating Hall of Fame and tabbed the Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award winner in 2018.