Kristi Yamaguchi on AllMovie

Widely praised as incomparably elegant and graceful for her prowess on the ice, professional skater Kristi Yamaguchi began to make headlines in 1989. That year, the 4'11," then-82 lb. 17-year-old defeated rival Jill Trenary at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and subsequently scored a victory in the pairs competition alongside skating partner Rudi Galindo. The Fremont, CA, native (reportedly born with two club feet) subsequently won the Olympic gold medal in her sport at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Yamaguchi remained active and visible as a skater over the following two decades, but also entered the limelight in a slightly different capacity, as a television dancer in 2008. That year, the producers of the competitive reality series Dancing with the Stars tapped the skater to perform on their program opposite Mark Ballas.