Yamaguchi

LANDOVER -- Japanese figure skater Midori Ito avenged a loss in the 1992 Winter Olympics to American Kristi Yamaguchi by winning the ladies competition of the DuraSoft Colors World Professional Figure Skating Championships at the USAir Arena last night.Ito, a silver medalist in Albertville, finished with 99.2 points compared to 98.7 for Yamaguchi, who beat out Ito for the gold nearly two years ago.Ito had a slight lead, 49.7 to 49 over Yamaguchi, after the technical program, which is Ito's forte.

Roy Yamaguchi is back in town on Wednesday, Oct. 5 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Roy's Baltimore. Chef Yamaguchi will be joined by Roy's Baltimore exec chef Raymond "Opie" Crooks and other chefs. The $100 evening will include wine, music and gourmet food stations executed by the James Beard Award-winning Yamaguchi, along with Crooks and other great chefs, including Rey Eugenio, the opening chef at Roy's Baltimore, Nino Germano ( Germano's ) Patrick Morrow ( Meli )

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It will take less than seven minutes.Fifteen years of Kristi Yamaguchi's life, innumerable falls, dozens of routines, a gazillion sequins, and in 6 minutes, 40 seconds next February, all that time and effort will be put to the test.A new Ice Queen will be crowned at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Will it be Yamaguchi?Perhaps, but whatever Yamaguchi makes of her few Olympic minutes -- a 2-minute, 40-second original program the first evening and a 4-minute program two days later -- will shape the rest of her life in ways both profound and petty.

The rumor that Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor might end up here through a trade might have been one of the most ridiculous Ravens trade rumors in recent memory and is a good example of why NFL football is nothing like fantasy football. Taylor can still play. And he would fit in just fine with the Ravens. But he also makes $7.5 million a year and is 33 years old. Giving away a high draft pick for a veteran on the downside of his career is something the Redskins might do, but not the Ravens.

LANDOVER -- Brian Boitano sat nervously on a table in the hallway outside the locker room, trying to retain his focus on his program. It wasn't easy. The Zamboni ice-smoothing machine had broken down, and the four-time professional world champion was being asked to hold that thought a little longer."

In the new world of Olympic figure skating, Kristi Yamaguchi can still skate for cash and medals.Just not all at once.Yesterday, Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic women's gold medalist, announced that she will make her professional debut at the DuraSoft World Professional Figure Skating Championships at the Capital Centre in Landover on Dec. 12.Five nights later, she will appear in the DuraSoft Challenge of Champions at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, Calif.And,...

After talking with her parents, her coach, her agent and her peers, reigning Olympic women's skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi finally listened to her heart and arrived at the most important decision of her career yesterday.The result: She shut the door on appearing at the 1994 Winter Games of Lillehammer, Norway."I let my heart decide, and this is what I want to do," Yamaguchi said during a conference call yesterday.Yamaguchi, winner of the women's gold at the 1992 Albertville Games, declined to join the rush of professionals who are regaining their competitive eligibility with the International Skating Union.

ALBERTVILLE, France -- So what's next for Kristi Yamaguchi?Should she turn pro? Should she remain a competitive skater? Should she do both?There are decisions to make for this new ice queen.Friday night, in the tensest, fiercest competition of the Winter Olympics, Yamaguchi became the first American woman to win the ladies' figure skating gold medal since Dorothy Hamill in 1976.Oh, she stumbled. But it doesn't really matter, now. She has the gold, a medal that may be worth millions."At this moment, I don't know what to expect," Yamaguchi said yesterday.

LANDOVER -- It has been almost two years since Kristi Yamaguchi glided onto the ice and into the world of stardom by winning a gold medal in figure skating at the Albertville Olympics. It's a moment she says she will never forget and a feeling that cannot be duplicated.That's why she has no desire to compete in the 1994 Games in February in Lillehammer, Norway, which will allow the return of professionals."Everything that happened in 1992 was great, but if I won a gold medal again, it wouldn't be as sweet as 1992.

ALBERTVILLE, France -- She landed the first triple jump and there was this smile that crossed Kristi Yamaguchi's face, that said it was going to be some night in these Winter Olympics."

Capping off a series of flawless performances, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi took home the mirror-ball trophy last night to win this season's edition of Dancing with the Stars. The Olympic champion is the first woman to win the hit reality show since Season's 1 Kelly Monaco in 2005. She and her professional partner Mark Ballas were consistently at or near the top of the scoreboard during the show's sixth season. And in the two-part finale, she finished strongly with perfect scores on both nights.

For the first time in five years, Kristi Yamaguchi didn't skate in her own TV special. And with good reason. She was eight months pregnant with her second daughter. So this past October, Yamaguchi traded in her skating bag for a diaper bag when the show was produced and taped in Albany, N.Y. Good friend and former Olympic teammate Nancy Kerrigan - herself a mother now - filled in for Yamaguchi. Appropriately, the show, which Yamaguchi co-hosts with Scott Hamilton, is dedicated to children, hence the title, "Friends and Family."

A week hence, Baltimore diners will begin speaking a strange new language, bending their tongues around opakapaka and onaga, which is not to omit furikake and lilikoi and so much seared shutome. And you thought it was tough to say Yuri Temirkanov. The name this time is Roy Yamaguchi, member of a burgeoning club of celebrity chefs to appear on television, publish a cookbook and open a restaurant or two. He serves Hawaiian/Asian/Euro- pean-fusion food, featuring fish (opakapaka, onaga and shutome)

TOKYO -- At 7: 50 a.m., the subway train pulls up to the platform, but the train is already jam-packed. Men and women are sitting in the cars, standing in the cars, crammed against each other, shoulders bumping, hips rubbing, eyes averted politely, stoically. There's not an inch to spare.Or maybe there is. As chimes sound to warn the passengers that the automatic doors are about to close, Reiko Yamaguchi skids to a stop on the sparkling white platform. She bows deeply to those already on the car. Then she flings herself into it. The mass of passengers heaves like a gigantic caterpillar.

LANDOVER -- Brian Boitano finished off the fall season last night with a title-clinching performance in the COMPLETE World Professional Figure Skating Championships."

Worthington Elementary School students who are studying about Japan are getting first-hand lessons.Yuriko Yamaguchi, a 28-year-old teacher and native of Japan, is at the Ellicott City school to teach third-graders about Japanese life and culture as they learn about her country through a social studies unit.Miss Yamaguchi arrived in the United States two weeks ago as part of a Japanese-American exchange program. She will teach at the school for nine months."I'm here to teach children in America about the real Japan and Japanese heart," says Miss Yamaguchi, a petite, enthusiastic woman with shoulder-length hair and a pleasant smile.

LANDOVER -- Wearing tight red stretch pants and a glittering halter top, Kristi Yamaguchi proved she's not just the little girl next door anymore.Skating a hot, sultry routine to "My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)" byEn Vogue, Yamaguchi beat a hauntingly beautiful performance by Denise Biellmann to win her first Durasoft World Professional Figure Skating Championship in her pro debut last night at the Capital Centre."I have to show more now," she said. "And this is a little daring for me. But I can do it now. I couldn't have done it a few years ago. It's pretty sexy."

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Call them Murderers' Row on skates.Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding constitute the most powerful spinning and jumping lineup in the history of ladies figure skating.They bring artistry and athletic charisma to a sport built on song and dance.Last night, they might not have been perfect, but they dominated the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.Yamaguchi, 20, of Fremont, Calif., won her first U.S. title by landing seven triple jumps and earning one perfect score of 6.0 for artistic elements.

LANDOVER -- Japanese figure skater Midori Ito avenged a loss in the 1992 Winter Olympics to American Kristi Yamaguchi by winning the ladies competition of the DuraSoft Colors World Professional Figure Skating Championships at the USAir Arena last night.Ito, a silver medalist in Albertville, finished with 99.2 points compared to 98.7 for Yamaguchi, who beat out Ito for the gold nearly two years ago.Ito had a slight lead, 49.7 to 49 over Yamaguchi, after the technical program, which is Ito's forte.

LANDOVER -- It has been almost two years since Kristi Yamaguchi glided onto the ice and into the world of stardom by winning a gold medal in figure skating at the Albertville Olympics. It's a moment she says she will never forget and a feeling that cannot be duplicated.That's why she has no desire to compete in the 1994 Games in February in Lillehammer, Norway, which will allow the return of professionals."Everything that happened in 1992 was great, but if I won a gold medal again, it wouldn't be as sweet as 1992.