Америкалық фигурист Кристин Ямагучи

American figure skater

Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former competitive figure skater, author and philanthropist. A former competitor in women's singles, Yamaguchi is the 1992 Olympic champion, a two time World champion (1991 and 1992), and the 1992 U. S. champion. In 1992, she became the first Asian American to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympic competition. in Hayward, California, to Jim Yamaguchi, a dentist, and Carole (née Doi), a medical secretary. Yamaguchi is Sansei (a third generation descendant of Japanese emigrants). Her paternal grandparents and maternal great grandparents emigrated to the United States from Japan, originating from Wakayama Prefecture and Saga Prefecture. Yamaguchi's grandparents were sent to an internment camp during World War II, where her mother was born. Her maternal grandfather, George A. Doi, was in the U. S. Army and fought in Germany and France during World War II during the time his family was interned at the Heart Mountain and Amache camps. Research done in 2010 by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. for the PBS series Faces of America showed that Yamaguchi's heritage can be traced back to Wakayama and Saga prefectures in Japan and that her paternal grandfather, Tatsuichi Yamaguchi, emigrated to Hawaii in 1899. Yamaguchi and her siblings, Brett and Lori, grew up in Fremont, California. In order to accommodate her training schedule, Yamaguchi was home schooled for her first two years of high school, but attended Mission San Jose High School for her junior and senior years, where she graduated.

In 1992, Yamaguchi won her first U. S. title and gained a spot to the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Joining her on the U. S. team were again Kerrigan and Harding. While Harding and Japan's Midori Ito were consistently landing the difficult triple Axel jump in competition, Yamaguchi instead focused on her artistry and her triple triple combinations in hopes of becoming a more well rounded skater. By the time she stopped competing as a professional, she had become a four time professional world champion (1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997). She finished second in 1993 behind Midori Ito and in 1995 behind Yuka Sato. She toured extensively with Stars On Ice for over a decade. She collaborated with a variety of choreographers to create diverse programs. "A lot of us on the Stars on Ice tour took pride in trying to stay innovative and bring something new to the ice every year," Yamaguchi noted.

In the ensuing months and years after she stood atop the podium in Albertville in 1992, Yamaguchi showed up on cereal boxes like Kellogg's Special K, on Hallmark Christmas ornaments, in ads for Got Milk? and Hoechst Celanese, as well as commercials for brands, fast food chains and department store chains like Mervyn's, Wendy's, DuraSoft and Entenmann's doughnuts. She was also featured in ads for Campbell Soup, a sponsor of U. S. Figure Skating at the time. In 2010, Yamaguchi was engaged by P&G to help kick off its "Thanks Mom" program in connection with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She also collaborated with OPI and General Electric in 2011 In 2018, Yamaguchi worked with the Milk Life Campaign that aims to explain the significance of milk in a well balanced, nutritious diet. As part of the campaign, Yamaguchi recreated her "Got Milk?" ad from the 1990s and was photographed by Annie Leibowitz. Mattel unveiled a new Barbie doll based on Yamaguchi in April 2024. The Yamaguchi Barbie doll is dressed in a detailed replication of Yamaguchi's gold and black costume from the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. Yamaguchi has been represented by IMG since 1992.