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(b.1971) Professional figure skater and Olympic gold medalist.
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Her eagerness as a child to emulate her older sister and learn to ice skate

Well my older sister actually started skating, and my mom took her -- she was about six, and I was four at the time. Of course, my older sister was doing it so I wanted to do it too. My mom said 'You're too young, wait 'til you're six, and when you learn how to read and you're in first grade, then I'll take you.' So as soon as I turned six, I went 'Okay, I'm ready to go skating now!'

ice skating skating

Date: January 16, 2000

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

Interviewee Bio

Kristi Yamaguchi was born in 1971 in Fremont, California, a fourth-generation Japanese American. She was born with a foot deformity and at the age of six her family encouraged her interest in skating to develop her coordination and balance. In 1992, she captured the gold medal in womens’ figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. (January 16, 2000)

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