Let's Dance!
Can Kristi Yamaguchi follow in the golden footsteps of 'Dancing With the Stars' champion Apolo Anton Ohno?
She already has an Olympic gold medal and a name that's synonymous with athletic grace and excellence, but now Kristi Yamaguchi is eyeing a new trophy in the shape of a disco ball.
In the dancing world - at least in the reality TV version - the sparkly globe is as coveted as the Vince Lombardi trophy. And Kristi is hoping to waltz, jive and mambo her way to victory on this new season of "Dancing With the Stars."
Yes, it's true, the hall of famer is trading her ice skates for dance shoes and what her four-year-old daughter Keara Kiyomi calls "pretty, princessy dresses."
But it's not all glamour right now. With competition weeks away, Kristi is balancing an intense schedule filled with promotional events and fox trot lessons with her dance partner Mark Ballas.
"It's a bigger learning curve than I thought," said Kristi, 36.
She spent a week just learning fundamental dance steps and noticed stark differences between shimmying on the dance floor and the ice.
"You're very free in skating ... you can glide across the ice and just move your arms to the music," said Kristi, who has ballet training and world champion experience putting on a show in front of judges, but right now ballroom dancing is proving itself to be a technical nightmare.
"In ballroom dancing, it's your arms, your legs, your feet ... there's even a difference between stepping with your toe or heel first," she groaned, paused and then groaned again when reminded that the popular dance show attracts about 30 million viewers a week.
"It's a little scary. The expectations are high."
A Family of Fans
Kristi and her family are fans of "Dancing with the Stars," an ABC reality show where celebrities are paired with professional dancers and judged in competitions. Each couple's fate is determined by viewers' votes. In the show's second season, the Bay Area native rooted for a retired San Francisco 49ers' wide receiver who surprised everyone with his footwork.
"We saw what Jerry Rice was doing and we were like wow!" said Kristi.
Then in the fourth season, Kristi watched Apolo Anton Ohno cha-cha his way to a victorious end.
During hockey season, the Olympic gold medalist lives outside of the spotlight in Raleigh, North Carolina with her professional hockey player husband Bret Hedican and their daughters Keara and Emma Yoshiko, two.
She and Bret had always wanted to learn ballroom dancing, but between being parents, striving to win a second Stanley Cup championship and running a successful children's charity foundation, who had time to take dance lessons? When the show's producers extended an invitation, Kristi happily accepted.
"To have professionals, the best in the world, teaching you is amazing," she said. "Watching it in the past and being a fan, it looked like they were always having fun."
Lori Yamaguchi was ecstatic when she found out her younger sister was going to compete on the dance show.
"She can shake it pretty good," said Lori, about Kristi's dance talent. "But the real dancer is her husband Bret. He busts out a pretty mean moonwalk."
She's a Contender
Kristi, who is one of 12 celebrities and athletes vying for a win, is an early favorite to take the disco ball.
She hasn't had the chance to size up the competition yet, but she has an idea who could be the most formidable - herself. The middle child of Jim and Carole Yamaguchi, who are JACL Thousand Club members, had to overcome many obstacles on her way to becoming one of the most recognized athletes of all time.
"Kristi was not the most athletic at figure skating and her jumps became consistent only because her coach taught and trained her the best technique for her body," said Carole. "Most importantly, Kristi has a great work ethic. Knowing things don't come that naturally for her, she has taught herself to train and work hard to become the best she can be."
In the 1992 Albertville, France Winter Olympics, Kristi broke the 16-year American dry spell by winning gold (the last American figure skater to win was Dorothy Hamill in 1976). Can Kristi also break the "Dancing with the Stars" male-dominated winning streak? The only other female celebrity to win was season one's Kelly Monaco.
"Yes, I am very nervous, but I get really nervous whenever Kristi performs," said Carole. "I think I get nervous because I know how hard and long she has prepared for something and I just always hope that she won't be disappointed with herself.
"But I know Kristi is loving every moment of 'Dancing with the Stars.'"
A week into rehearsals and Kristi is already discovering new muscles that have never been worked before.
"There's a big difference between looking thin and being fit!" she laughed "Hopefully, that will come as we progress.
"I know the feeling of being right there and having to turn it on when I have to, so when that spotlight hits it's like boom."
She's been told the first round of the competition, which premieres March 17, is easier because there is more time to rehearse. She and Mark recently rehearsed for over an hour and only choreographed the first 10 seconds of a routine.
"You can imagine."
But her friends and her family members remain sure of their contender.
"She's a competitor and I think this contest will bring out the best in her," said Bret Yamaguchi about his older sister.
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