Yamaguchi honored with Rings of Gold Award During her competitive years, Kristi Yamaguchi spent plenty of time sit-
This issue in SKATING history
In May 2013, U.S. Figure Skating launched the SKAT- ING Magazine Archive, a fully searchable digital database that allows members and subscribers to access every story and photo published in the mag- azine since the inaugural December 1923 edition. Here’s a look at what was happening in the world of SKATING 15, 50, and 75 years ago:
1999 Icebreakers — Kwan + UCLA = Success “By now, Michelle Kwan has probably settled into her new life in Westwood, Calif. Dormitory food, football games and studying all night are part of the regimen for every Bruin on the cosmopolitan cam- pus of UCLA. It won’t be any different for Kwan, who began a full load of classes at UCLA on Sept. 30.”
1964 Dick Button: “As I See it...” — As told to Parke Cummings “Q: How do you think figure skating is doing today compared to earlier times? BUTTON: Better and better. Here’s one indication. Ten years ago, figure skates formed only 10 percent of total sales for all types of men’s ice skates. In oth- er words, the vast majority sold were the general hockey type. Then figure skate percentages began a steady increase — 30–40 percent — finally over the halfway mark, and now it’s 80 percent, or four out of five. Remember this is for men’s skates. With women the percentage is still higher, obviously.”
1939 Monomania — By Elizabeth Bosquet, Providence Figure Skating Club “I used to lead a normal life, Enjoying quiet leisure. I had good friends; I worked and played With mild New England pleasure.
But now my days are robbed of peace; I’m fast degenerating Into a monomaniac Whose only thought is skating.
My dreams are haunted by the spell Of changes, threes and brackets; My wardrobe’s nil — excepting for Brief skirts and skating jackets.
My wit was once considered keen By scintillating talkers, But now my conversation’s bounds Are tensteps, spins and rockers.
My waning friends declare they’ll flee To Nome or Pango-Pango If I disrupt their bridge and teas To demonstrate the tango!
Career and home-life both are wrecked; My only goal’s test seven. A single worry stirs my soul — Will there be rinks in Heaven?” To read these articles and more in their entirety, visit the SKATING Magazine Archive under the Members Only section of
USFigureSkating.org.
6 NOVEMBER 2014
ting next to her mother, Carole, on airplanes. Now, 22 years after Kristi be- came the Olympic champion in Albertville, France, mother and daughter again sat shoulder to shoulder as they waited on the tarmac for their early morning flight from San Francisco to take off for Chicago. Kristi, winner of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s prestigious Rings of Gold
Award, had asked her mother to join her at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly, where she would be honored on Sept. 26. Certainly, any parent would be proud.
But then, the unexpected happened: Their plane — all planes at SFO —
were sent back to their gates due to “problems in Chicago.” It would later be determined that a fire had been intentionally set in a communications room of the Federal Aviation Administration building that serves both major Chica- go airports. The Yamaguchis’ flight was one of more than 1,300 cancelled that day.
“I was so disappointed,” Kristi said. “I really wanted to be there to express
my heartfelt gratitude and also to see the U.S. Olympic family again. I made some good friends while working as the USOC digital ambassador during the Sochi Games. I know it must’ve been a very inspiring evening with all of the other awardees and speakers as well.” Always a champion, Kristi returned home, changed into an elegant top
and recorded a message to be shown to the hundreds in attendance. Typical- ly, her husband, Bret Hedican, would run the camera, but … “Bret wasn’t available, so it was my mom who helped film the video,” Kris-
ti said. “I was proud of myself for figuring out how to send it to them. Technol- ogy sometimes is not my friend!” Kristi joins Melissa Gregory (2010) to become the second figure skater
to earn the Rings of Gold award, which honors those dedicated to helping children develop their Olympic or Paralympic dreams and reach their highest athletic and personal potential. Shortly after earning her Olympic gold medal, Kristi started the Always
Dream Foundation, which is in its 18th year of active, charitable giving. While it has several initiatives to help inspire and support youth (including figure skaters), the foundation’s current focus is on its Always Reading program, aimed at improving early childhood literacy. The program is in nearly 70 un- derserved classrooms from California to Hawaii and Arizona. A mother of two young girls, Kristi said the passion behind her founda-
tion is “just wanting to make a difference.” “I feel so fortunate to have had the successes in my life because of the
care and support of people around me,” she said. “When I see a child who needs that in their life, how can I not be compelled to do something?” To learn more about the Always Dream Foundation visit
www.alwaysdream.org. — Barb Reichert
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