Kristi Yamaguchi

Kristi Yamaguchi is a wife, mother, Olympic Gold Medalist, author and philanthropist. She has won two World Championship Gold medals along with an Olympic Gold medal.

Yamaguchi’s professional career has flourished both on and off the ice. When she joined the cast of Stars on Ice in 1992, her presence helped define the tour as the preeminent skating show in the world. She toured for 10 years, consistently delivering exquisite performances that brought audiences to their feet. During that time, she also won numerous professional competitions and frequently appeared on television specials. She served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and was one of the few artists asked to perform at both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Yamaguchi has also authored multiple books, including "Figure Skating for Dummies," "Always Dream," as well as New York Times Best-selling children’s books "Dream Big, Little Pig!," and "It's a Big World, Little Pig!."

Throughout her professional career, Yamaguchi has been a highly sought-after corporate spokesperson and has done work with Kellogg’s® and the American Lung Association. She is the creator of Tsuya, a clothing line that delivers a style that fits every part of an active lifestyle. Yamaguchi’s victory on the sixth season of ABC’s "Dancing with the Stars" is another achievement in a career marked with golden success. In 2024, Yamaguchi was honored with her own figure-skating Barbie doll for AAPI Heritage Month.

One of Yamaguchi’s lasting legacies will be her Always Dream Foundation (www.AlwaysDream.org), founded in 1996. It was established with one goal in mind: to find innovative ways to provide support for a diverse range of programs designed to inspire and embrace children's hopes and dreams. Committed to the belief that early childhood literacy is the foundation on which all academic and life success is built, the Foundation has set its sights on improving access by children of low-income families to books and technology.