"It's something I've dreamed of ever since I put on skates as a little girl." (She is still little, shoe size 3.) At age 20, Kristi Yamaguchi, of Fremont, Calif., faced the international press, blissfully fingering her gold medal. She had nothing else to say. No thoughts about what she would do next year, or what she would do tomorrow. She had just made it through the arduous course of a fairy tale: pluck vs. luck.
The competition ended exactly as it should have. Yamaguchi was the most consistent athlete and freshest stylist. Skating to Lecuona's Malaguena, she showed the delicacy and pace that make her a joy to watch. In the long -- 4- min. -- format she fumbled one triple jump, but everyone else in contention did at least that. In the current high-vaulting, teeter-totter world of skating, to jump is to survive, to land upright is to prevail.
Yamaguchi withstood a strong challenge from Japan's Midori Ito, who lifted the crowd as she courageously hurtled her way to a silver medal after placing a disappointing fourth in the original program. The most famous athlete in her country, Ito had earlier seemed almost crushed by the weight of her flag and the expectations back home. The bronze went to Nancy Kerrigan of Stoneham, Mass., an elegant, imperturbable skater who made a characteristic decision to scale back her jumps in her long program.
The rink at Albertville was the scene of powerful grace and perfection all week long. But the best and most innovative skating of the Olympics came in the earlier ice-dancing competition. The Unified Team's Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko took the gold decisively with a bold, sexy program, while France's celebrity couple, Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay, were somewhat off form and had to settle for silver. Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin, also from the Unified Team, skated lightly and impudently to the bronze.
For Yamaguchi, Olympic glory is the culmination of a single-minded 14-year quest. She is a fourth-generation American, raised in Fremont, where her father is a dentist. Kristi was born with clubfeet, but the condition was corrected, and by six she was on the ice for keeps. For years she was a superior pairs skater as well and often competed solo with scant practice. It may be a result of giving up the dual assignment, or moving to Edmonton, Alberta, for training, or perhaps the onset of maturity, but in the past year or so she has forged a fluent artistic identity and put aside the more obvious tricks that come easily to her.
Away from the rink Yamaguchi is reserved, but not shy. Says U.S. coach Don Laws: "Kristi has the ideal temperament for a skater. She trusts her coach, her parents and her program." She has already been bitten by the ice-show bug after a brief tour with a group sponsored by Campbell's soup. "I just got a little taste," she says, "but it was great -- the travel, the crowds, being with other skaters in a noncompetitive atmosphere. Just like a family."