Kristi Yamaguchi quotes
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An athlete gains so much knowledge by just participating in a sport. Focus, discipline, hard work, goal setting and, of course, the thrill of finally achieving your goals. These are all lessons in life.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I don't know how many people really knew who I was before the Olympics and that's the fun thing of the Olympics - you get to know someone who captures your heart, hopefully.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I'd try to channel my nervous energy in a positive way into strength and endurance. It didn't always work.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Being an athlete, you know how to train and prepare your body for a performance and you're able to do it under pressure.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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Probably a few weeks after I was born I started having casts put on my legs to straighten them out. After that corrective shoes and with a brace in between.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Training for the Olympics was a lifelong endeavor and took many years.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I've realized how precious life is. When I was younger, I was more adventurous. I felt invincible. I was game for everything. As a mom, I don't want to get injured because then I can't take care of my kids.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
With 30,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations from the seasonal flu, those numbers are certainly higher than what we've seen of the swine flu. Protecting yourself from both viruses is very important.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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In terms of my career, having the gold definitely changed my life. The Olympics are different, you know? They're every four years and it's such a small group.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I've always worked closely with the designers and whoever's making the costumes. Comfort is the last thing you want on your mind when you're competing. In an ideal situation, you'll have something where you'll put it on and you're fine and you don't have to worry about it at all.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Skating was something I really wanted to do; my parents knew nothing about it. They said they'd support me as long as I was trying my hardest and enjoying it.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Growing up as an athlete, I started skating very young. My parents didn't know anything about the sport, so they went with the flow. I had two great coaches who gave great advice and gave guidelines for my parents. My parents let the coaches dictate what was going on on the ice.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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The past couple years training with Kurt have really brought inspiration into my skating.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I burnt myself out of skating. I was ready to focus on being a mom.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Having achieved my own dreams, I want to give to kids who are less fortunate, who struggle with everyday obstacles. I want to give them something positive in their lives: support.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Figure skaters have awful perceptions of hockey players.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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Dorothy Hamill was my big idol as a kid. She'd won the Olympics in 1976. She was America's sweetheart with her personality, her talent, her haircut.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Childhood reading is so important.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
At 6 years old, the ice became a place for me to express myself. Because I was so shy off the ice, it became my safe haven, with music and freedom and self-expression. That was my emotional outlet.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Before turning pro, I would never have just left my skates sitting in the locker room unattended.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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As a teenager especially, I just wanted to do my thing and not be noticed.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I always try to start out with some type of goal. Then I work backward and think of what I need to do to get there, and give myself smaller goals that are more immediate
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Every day, someone realizes a dream. I believe dreams help light our darkness and give us the push we need to move across the rink of life.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
The good feeling I get from contributing rivals anything I felt on the Olympic stand in Albertville.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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There are two or three performances in your life that are absolutely on, where all the planets are lined up for you and you feel you're invincible.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I didn't want to skate for someone else or for certain marks.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Winning in women's singles felt surreal. I felt that everything I had done - the hard work, the tough times - was all worth it.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
One of my mottos not only just in skating but in life in general and I try to enforce it as well, is like no regrets and just like going for it.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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Now, I am thrilled to be a wife and mother, and I hope to be as good of a mother as my own mother, Carole.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
My experience at the 1992 Winter Olympics was my fulfillment of dreaming the Impossible Dream.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I'm kind of a homebody. My husband says I like to just stay home and do nothing, but that's just how I am.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
They say, once you have a child, your heart is forever outside your body. I totally understand that now.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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I'm always looking for inspiring ways to stay motivated and stay active.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I never wanted to feel I hadn't worked hard enough.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I learned to put 100 percent into what you're doing. I learned about setting goals for yourself, knowing where you want to be and taking small steps toward those goals. I learned about adversity and how to get past it.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
I don't mind the sparkle - I think it's kind of a tradition in skating. I don't think the men really need sparkles, but for the women it's part of the glamour of our sport.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
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As a professional, I think we're not being judged solely on technical ability anymore. People really want to be entertained and enjoy what they're watching.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi -
Searching for funds to continue my skating career when I was 17, I called the Women's Sports Foundation in New York. The intern who answered the phone suggested that I might be a great candidate for the Travel and Training fund, and she sent me an application form. I applied for a grant. With the funds I was awarded, I bought a new pair of skates and a plane ticket to the 1988 National Championships, where I achieved my highest national finish. Four years later, I won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games.
-- Kristi Yamaguchi
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