Kristi Yamaguchi

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36 june 2007
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by p e t e r c r o o k s ❉ p h oto g r a p h y by e r i c ka m c co n n e l l
Di ab l o 37
➥
as
3 8 m ay 2 0 1 0
s t y l i n g b y da n i e l l e g o l d
m pa
ny”
❉ h a i r a n d m a k e u p b y p r e s t o n n e s b i t/ f o r d
Earlier this year, she led her foundation to
open a new playground in Fremont equipped
with wheelchair-accessible ramps, specially
modified swings, and other features that allow
children of all abilities to play there.
“I had the opportunity to see my dreams
come true, but an athlete’s life is inherently
selfish and self-centered,” says Yamaguchi.
“At this point, I’d like to help make other
children’s dreams come true.”
❉
overcoming obstacles
“co
Raised in Fremont, Yamaguchi is the middle
child of Jim, a dentist, and Carole, a homemaker. Kristi, older sister, Lori, and younger
brother, Brett, were the first generation in
the family to have an all-American suburban childhood. (Yamaguchi’s mother was
born in a Japanese internment camp while
Yamaguchi’s grandfather was in the U.S. Army,
fighting in Europe during World War II.)
Yamaguchi’s childhood became anything
but ordinary after she discovered ice-skating
at age six. The sport helped strengthen her
feet and legs from procedures she endured as
a baby to correct club feet. Skating also gave
her an immediate outlet for self-expression.
“I didn’t feel shy at all on the ice,” she says.
“There was a feeling of freedom, of gliding on
the ice, where I could express myself in a way
I had never felt.”
As much as Yamaguchi loved being on
the ice, she wasn’t a prodigy. She had to focus
and work hard to make her talent shine.
“She was incredibly shy when she started. I
would ask her questions, and she would softly
peep her answers,” recalls coach Christy
Ness, who began working with Yamaguchi
when she was nine. “But, she was also able
to focus, intensely, from a very young age.
She respected each practice. She improved
a little bit each day and never slipped back.
And, she truly loved the sport; she never
burned out because she loved it so much.”
Yamaguchi’s practices with Ness, who now
lives in Lafayette, started out as 15-minute
blocks of time. They quickly turned into
longer, more rigorous sessions. For Yamaguchi,
skating had become her calling.
Photo Credit
Kristi Yamaguchi opens the door, inviting
a Diablo writer into her enormous Alamo
home, the first word that comes to mind is
petite. Just over five feet tall and (maybe) 100
pounds, petite might be stretching it. As she
sits down to chat at a long dining room table,
under a massive iron chandelier, she looks
smaller still.
When she speaks, the figure skating
legend is polite and friendly, but soft-spoken
and shy. She’s not the type A, bigger-than-life
personality we’ve seen in recent Olympic
champs, such as Shaun White and Michael
Phelps. It’s easy to wonder how someone
so modest could accomplish all she has in
her 38 years on such an international stage:
Olympic gold medalist, reality show darling,
and TV commentator.
But don’t let her diminutive appearance
and shy demeanor fool you.
The qualities that drove Yamaguchi to win
Olympic gold and the Dancing With the Stars
glitter ball award soon reveal themselves. Not
only is she a fierce competitor, she has the
champion’s ability to focus on the challenge.
And her drive for new challenges keeps her
from kicking back into a leisurely retirement
or withdrawing from the spotlight.
Yes, Yamaguchi is happy to be back in the
East Bay, where she grew up. She is making
a home in Alamo with her husband, retired
professional hockey player Bret Hedican,
and daughters Keara, six, and Emma, four.
But, she also keeps busy—very busy—
outside her home with her latest challenge.
She wants to help East Bay children in need
through her Always Dream Foundation, a
nonprofit she formed in 1996.
the
Di ab l o 39
“I can remember summer nights, listening
to my brother and sister playing outside at
7 p.m., when I was lying in bed, trying to get
to sleep so I could be up the next morning at
5 a.m. to practice,” she says.
To allow for time to practice and travel,
Yamaguchi was homeschooled for her first
two years of high school. But, something
besides wanting to win the next competition
kicked in. As much as possible, she wanted
to enjoy a normal teenage life.
She decided to attend Fremont’s Mission
San Jose High School for her junior and
senior years. “I realized that I did not want
my high school years to go by without doing
some of the normal things kids do, like going
to the prom,” she says.
❉
going for the gold
After Yamaguchi graduated, she decided
to follow Ness to Edmonton, Canada. Ness
had moved there for family reasons, and
Yamaguchi wanted to train full-time for the
1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville,
France. Not only did Yamaguchi keep to
an arduous schedule of ice practice, dance
lessons, and days on the road traveling for
competitions, but she had to overcome her
shyness. She didn’t want to let it stop her
from getting what she wanted. This was especially true in the moments before she had to
glide out on the ice to skate for gold.
“I was getting ready in the locker room,
and I thought, ‘Do I have to go out there?
Can’t I go home?’ ” Yamaguchi recalls. “But,
I was able to get lost in my performance and
get through it.”
Yamaguchi more than maintained her
composure: She was magnificent. Skating
to Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss
II, she dazzled the judges with a graceful
performance, her trademark precision on
full display except for one minor mistake.
With her parents and siblings in the stands,
Yamaguchi became the first American woman
to win the gold since Dorothy Hamill in 1976.
Another life-changing event happened at
the Albertville Games. She met her future
husband, Bret Hedican, then a member of the
U.S. hockey team—only she didn’t realize the
significance of the meeting at the time.
“Nancy Kerrigan and I were going around
at the opening ceremonies, taking pictures
with other athletes, and at some point we
4 0 m ay 2 0 1 0
met Bret. Honestly, I don’t actually remember
meeting him because it was all such a blur,”
Yamaguchi says. “Looking back, 1992 was a
really good year.”
❉
love life on the road
After winning the U.S. and world championships and the Olympic gold in 1992,
Yamaguchi decided to go professional. While
touring with Stars on Ice, she ran into Hedican
at the grand opening of Vancouver’s General
Motors arena. Yamaguchi was performing at
the event, and Hedican was playing for the
Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey
League. “I went up to Kristi and told her
that we met at the opening ceremonies in
Albertville. She had this look on her face, and
I knew she did not remember,” says Hedican,
a friendly, husky Minnesotan. “She went home
and looked through her pictures, and sure
enough, there I was.”
Yamaguchi laughs at the memory. “I would
have never thought of dating a hockey player.
I’ll admit that I thought hockey guys were …
brutes,” she says, laughing. “But, Bret was
just the opposite; he was so nice, so polite. He
introduced himself to my mom and said, ‘Mrs.
Yamaguchi, I enjoyed meeting Kristi at the
Olympics.’ He was such a gentleman.”
A few weeks later, Yamaguchi and
Hedican met for ice cream before a Canucks
game in San Jose and clicked. “For the
first few months of our relationship, her
Stars on Ice tour happened to be hitting
the same cities the Canucks were playing,”
says Hedican, who retired last year after
17 seasons in the NHL. “We’d be in Long
Island to play the Islanders, and Stars on Ice
would be there the next night. The strange
thing was, that never happened again for the
rest of our careers.”
Yamaguchi and Hedican maintained a
long-distance relationship for years, before
marrying on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2000.
The next year, Hedican was traded to the
Carolina Hurricanes, and the couple settled
in Raleigh to start a family. Yamaguchi was
thrilled at the chance to be a stay-at-home
mom and hockey wife. “I loved my career as a
professional skater, but after 10 years on the
road, I was burned out,” she says.
After nearly three decades of training and
skating, Yamaguchi felt free to kick back.
She looked forward to seeing her daughters
enjoy the carefree childhood she largely
missed out on.
“When Keara was 18 months old, I said,
‘OK, we’re going to Disneyland—she’s going
to love it.’ ” Yamaguchi says,
(continued on 115)
➥ Always Dreaming
Since Kristi Yamaguchi created
TV Specials ❯ Long before
Sweet Style ❯ Recent
the Always Dream Foundation in
Yamaguchi dazzled on Dancing
fundraisers included a shopping
1996, it has raised more than $4
With the Stars (type in “Mark
spree at San Francisco’s chic
million. More than 50 organiza-
and Kristi winning freestyle” on
Tory Burch boutique, with a por-
tions (including Girls Inc., Shoes
YouTube), she shined in prime
tion of sales benefiting Always
That Fit, Children’s Hospital
time by organizing a pair of holi-
Dream programs. Yamaguchi
Oakland, Make-A-Wish Founda-
day skating specials for Lifetime
also has plans to release a line
tion, and Family Giving Tree)
and CBS. The Golden Moment
of workout clothes to benefit
have benefited from Always
specials benefited breast cancer
the foundation.
Dream donations. Yamaguchi’s
awareness and research.
parents and siblings are also
➥
an
dd
,t
ad
oo
!
What’s Next ❯ On Saturday,
involved with the foundation,
Free Skating ❯ From
which has come up with some
1998 to 2005, the foundation
Dancing the Night Away at the
creative ways to raise money
partnered with San Francisco’s
Hilton Union Square. This ball-
and awareness. Here are some of
Embarcadero Center to create the
room dancing and dinner gala
the highlights:
Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink.
will feature celebrities and pro
This partnership provided under-
dancers from Dancing With the
served children in the Bay Area an
Stars. For more information, visit
opportunity to skate for free.
alwaysdream.org.
June 19, Yamaguchi will host
For wardrobe information, see page 117.
Di ab l o 41
kristi yamaguchi
laughing. “We got there,
and I completely realized we were there
because I wanted to go, not Keara.”
Yamaguchi and Hedican both say their
friends wonder if their daughters will
become ice-skaters; it must be in their DNA.
But, the couple say that they are in no rush
to raise the next generation of Olympians.
“We just hope they will find something in
life that they are passionate about, the way
we did with skating,” she says.
(continued from 40)
Voted Best of the East Bay
Take the
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❉
pop-culture celebrity
Although initially wary of settling down
in an unfamiliar part of the country,
Yamaguchi came to love Raleigh. She
appreciated the friendships she made
with other Hurricanes players’ wives. The
women would get together for dinners and
children’s playdates—and to watch the hit
reality show Dancing With the Stars.
“We had a Dancing With the Stars pool,
and we would make fun of the people on
the show,” says Yamaguchi. “My friends
were always teasing me that I should go on
the show someday.”
Someday came, when show producers
called Yamaguchi’s agent. “At first I thought,
‘No, I don’t want to be away from my kids—
or dancing on live television in front of 20
million viewers,’ ” says Yamaguchi. “I realized that my friends would never let me hear
the end of it if I did not go on.”
Hedican encouraged Yamaguchi to go
for it, too—and to take it seriously. He knew
the show would give his wife a chance to
unleash the competitor within. “It showed
America about her personality. She’s funny
and nice, but she’s a lion on the inside.”
Yamaguchi had a blast learning the
quickstep, the rumba, and the Paso Doble.
She didn’t just win the show’s sixth season:
She dominated, receiving more perfect
scores than any other champion in the
show’s history. She was also a hit with the
show’s fans, whose votes are combined with
the judges’ scores for the championship
tally. “I get recognized from Dancing With
the Stars so much more than I ever did from
the Olympics,” she says. “After a while,
you realize that 20 million people really are
watching that show.”
Dancing With the Stars’ pop-culture
juggernaut introduced Yamaguchi to the
kind of aggressive paparazzi circus that
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D ia blo 115
kristi yamaguchi
goes with being a reality show star. “There
were a lot of times during the show when I
would go out to dinner in L.A., come out of
the restaurant, and there were 20 photographers waiting for me. I found out that
[celebrity gossip website and TV show]
TMZ was following me around—which is
also when I found out that TMZ exists,”
says Yamaguchi. “This is why I love
living in Alamo. Nobody here cares if I
go out to dinner.”
❉
kristi comes home
Her triumph on Dancing With the Stars
wrapped just before Hedican finished his
final season in the NHL, and the couple
decided to move back to the East Bay and
live here year-round. They settled into the
large Alamo home they had bought in 2004.
Up until then, they had only spent one
month there every summer.
After nearly three decades on the road,
Yamaguchi is happy to be back in the East
Bay, close to her parents, who still live
in the same house she grew up in. Also
nearby is sister, Lori, the chief marketing
officer for the Always Dream Foundation,
and brother, Brett, an executive with the
Golden State Warriors.
But, she is hardly resting on her
Olympic or Dancing with the Stars celebrity. When she was interviewed for this
article, Yamaguchi had just returned from
Vancouver, where she provided figure skating commentary for NBC’s coverage of the
Winter Olympics. The following week, she
flew back east to film a live skating reality
show for ABC called Thin Ice. Meanwhile,
Hedican is providing pre- and postgame
commentary for San Jose Sharks games.
Returning to the East Bay also has
reignited Yamaguchi’s focus on her work
with the Always Dream Foundation. For
the past year, she has worked nonstop
on foundation events for the nonprofit,
which has raised more than $4 million
for Children’s Hospital Oakland, MakeA-Wish, and other kids’ causes since its
inception. “Kristi has always been very
passionate about the foundation, but since
she’s moved back to Alamo, I’ve noticed a
renewed interest and rededication,” says
her sister, Lori. “She wants to use her
celebrity to make a difference for people
who are less fortunate.”
1 1 6 m ay 2 0 1 0
In January, Yamaguchi and her family
attended the opening of the foundation’s
first self-funded creation: the Always Dream
Play Park in Fremont. “Building the park
was four years of hard work. It required a lot
of vision and time and energy from everyone
involved in the foundation,” she says. “And
then one day, we are standing there, and it’s
real. To see the park open and kids running
and playing on it, I was holding back tears,
watching them enjoy it.”
The park, yet another proud accomplishment in Yamaguchi’s life, is a challenge she
has met with her characteristic drive and
focus. But when asked what challenge has
given her the most joy, the answer makes
its appearance, running into the dining
room with Little Mermaid dolls in hand.
Keara and Emma race by the table and
out the door. Yamaguchi laughs: “At this
age, they are constant entertainment,” she
says. “Being a mom is by far the highlight
of my life. Winning the gold medal at the
Olympics is a distant second.” ■
Where to buy the clothing and accessories
P a g e 3 6 : On Kristi: BCBG MaxAzria ombré silk chiffon
gown, $458, and antique gold pave stone ring, $58, at
BCBG; Erica Molinari necklace with diamond briolettes,
$1,675, at RedBird; Robindira Unsworth oxidized silver
vermeil necklace with quartz, $297, at Iniam; Flint Miriam
necklace with smoky topaz, $279, and Flint Ava earrings
with orange crystal, $79, at Alina B.; Danielle Stevens bluegreen enamel bracelet, $27, at Duchess.
P a g e 3 8 – 3 9 : (Photo with Kristi in white, also on the
cover): On Kristi: BCBG MaxAzria silk shadow-stripe gown,
$360, and gem necklace, $48, at BCBG; mixed crystal
necklace, $89, at J.Crew; Emmez triple-layered bronze
pearl necklace, $58, at Elisa Wen; Renee Garvey pearl wrap
bracelet, $235, at RedBird; Rapsodia in Nero rhinestone
cuff, $98, at Alina B. On Emma: tulle Estelle skirt, $32.50,
at J.Crew. On Keara: Butterfly T-shirt, $32.50, at J.Crew.
(Photos with Kristi in gold): On Kristi: Tory Burch Alton
dress, $695, at McMullen; sea urchin bracelet, $78, mosaic
bracelet, $75, chandelier earrings, $65, at J.Crew; Emmez
triple-layered bronze pearl necklace, $58, at Eliza Wen.
On Emma: Silk candy dot Quinta top, $49.50, and cotton
Leah cardigan, $44, J.Crew; Streets Ahead gold belt, $53, at
Iniam. On Keara: Roxy busy bee T-shirt, $24, at Red Wagon;
Pansy Parade flip skirt, $58, at J.Crew.
P a g e 4 1 : (Photos with Brett) On Brett: Joe’s Classic
Jeans, $189, RVCA Dixie plaid button down, $55, and
Alternative Apparel eco-heather brown tee, $24, at Edge
Shop for Men. On Kristi: Haute Hippie graphite flutter
skirt, $395, at Nordstrom; Robbi + Nikki accordion flower
top, $158, Dell’est gray patent wrap bracelet, $135, and
Jezebel’s Jewels flower earrings with chalcedony stones,
$78, at Elisa Wen; Tai wax cord bracelet, $50, at Duchess;
Robindira Unsworth druzy vermeil ring, $308, at Iniam. On
Emma: Craft Dungarees Iman Capri, $48, at peekkids.com;
Haven Girl “Wild at Heart” tank, $36, at Red Wagon; Studio
Deseo Indian paintbrush necklace, $148, at Erica Tanov.
On Keara: Sari stripe cardigan, $49.50, and flip skirt, $48, at
J.Crew; Roxy school boy crush jeans, $42, at Red Wagon;
big ball necklace, $74, at Erica Tanov.
Di ab l o 117