In the years following her gold-medal performance at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games, Kristi Yamaguchi joined the “Stars on Ice” tour and in 2008 won ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” with professional ballroom dancer Mark Ballas.
Outside of the spotlight, she established the Always Dream Foundation to help early childhood literacy programs in low-income neighborhoods. The foundation has programs in seven Honolulu elementary schools.
Yamaguchi, 45, is married to former pro hockey player Bret Hedican and was in Honolulu for an Always Dream Foundation fundraiser Nov. 5 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
What’s been keeping you busy recently?
I just finished a book tour for the release of my third children’s picture book, “Cara’s Kindness,” so it’s been a whirlwind four weeks.
What’s the most exciting thing that happened in the past year other than the book?
I got my dancing shoes back on and I did a theater dance show in Japan in the summer. We did 13 shows to sold-out crowds every night, so it was really an amazing experience.
You mentioned when you were here for the “Golden Moment Hawaii” shows a year ago that your younger daughter, Emma, was interested in skating. How’s she doing?
She’s still skating, so it’s been about four years now. I’m not her coach, which is good; she has her own coach. I help out a lot. She just loves having Mom’s support so I try to be as supportive and not critical as possible. It’s a fine line.
Do you ever skate with your husband for fun?
No. We have an outdoor holiday rink that we sponsor in San Jose (Calif.) and … we bring the kids out and the cousins, and we’ll go on the ice too, but it’s not like we’ll hold hands and go skating around the rink. We appreciate each other’s craft from afar.
What are your other interests?
I’m a big sports fan, so I love watching hockey. I love watching the (Golden State) Warriors, and I like movies and reading.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were 20?
You should enjoy life to the fullest. When I was 20, I was competing at the Olympics, so I was so focused on one thing. After the Olympics, the world opened up.
“On the Scene” appears weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Sunday Magazine. Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.
