Kristi Yamaguchi Is Married to Former Ice Hockey Player Bret Hedican

Kristi Yamaguchi is one of the best figure skaters in the history of the sport, having won multiple world championships and the 1992 Olympic gold. The legendary figure skater has also been winning in her personal life. She is currently married to former NHL player Bret Hedican.

The couple shares two beautiful girls who are already in their late teens. They have a winning family, as both parents are well-known in their sporting codes and beyond. For example, Yamaguchi is one of the great figure skaters of yesteryear, having made a name for herself during one of the most competitive eras of the sport.

On the other hand, Bret experienced a roller-coaster career with many highs and a considerable amount of lows. His peaks came in 1992 and 2006 when he played for the USA at the Olympics and in 2006 when he lifted the Stanley Cup with the California Hurricanes. His lows were mainly to do with his injuries.

Kristi Yamaguchi and Bret Hedican Were Both Athletes and Met at the Olympic Games

Although Yamaguchi is of Japanese descent, she was born in Hayward, California, on July 12, 1971. She grew up in Fremont, where she attended Mission San Jose High School. She had already begun training as a figure skater at a very young age and also incorporated ballet into her routines.

She began her career with a 1986 U.S. Junior Champions appearance, where she won gold in the doubles and followed that up with another gold in singles at the 1987 World Junior Championships. Her junior career was characterized by massive success in both singles and doubles alongside her partner, Rudy Galindo.

However, as she went into her senior career, she focused solely on her singles career. She began studying psychology at the University of Alberta, Canada, in 1991. Still, she returned stateside, finishing as the runner-up to Tonya Harding in the U.S. Championships that year.

Later in 1991, she would beat the highly fancied Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan at the World Championships in Munich, Germany. That set in motion her dominance of the U.S. figure skating ladies’ circuit for the next few years. In 1992, she won the title at the nationals for the first time.

Arguably the most significant moment of her career also came in 1992 when she beat stiff competition from her two American teammates and Japan’s Midori Ito to take gold at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. More importantly, that triumph meant more than just the medal; it changed her life forever.

From that point, Yamaguchi cemented herself as a household name. The celebrity status that came with her triumph enabled her to have many enriching opportunities, including sponsorship and endorsement deals. She said, “Winning the gold opened up a lot of opportunities, other challenges that I wanted to take on and do in my life.”

Bret Ended His Career In 2009

Yamaguchi’s other half, Hedican, was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on August 10, 1970. He grew up there and attended his high school at North High, where he was a very active athlete. He was involved in various sporting disciplines, such as soccer and football.

However, when it was time for college, he chose to go to St. Cloud State University on an ice hockey scholarship, thereby forgoing his chances of playing in major junior hockey. He excelled at St. Cloud, learning a lot along the way, and went professional a few years later.

His professional career began in 1988 when the St. Louis Blues drafted him. That year, he was selected 198th overall in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. However, at that time, he still had to continue his development at St. Cloud.

Before playing his first professional match, Hedican got the hour to play at the 1992 Winter Olympics as part of Team USA. After completing the global sporting event, he signed a new contract with the Blues, marking the beginning of his fully-fledged professional hockey career.

In his third season with the Blues, they traded him to the Vancouver Canucks. On March 21, 1994, he officially joined the Canucks and had a fairy-tale start to his campaign. Shortly afterward, they rewarded him with a new two-year contract. After five years with the team, he was traded again, this time to the Florida Panthers.

In his illustrious career, Hedican appeared in two Olympic games and won the prestigious Stanley Cup with the Caroline Hurricanes. However, it was not always smooth sailing for him as he constantly suffered injuries, especially in his later years. After experiencing recurring back spasms, Hedican retired in 2009 after playing 1039 matches.

The Couple Have Two Daughters Together

After

meeting

at the 1992 Olympics, where they both participated, Hedican and Yamaguchi tied the knot on July 8, 2000. Afterward, the newlyweds resided in Raleigh, North Carolina, where Hedican’s team, the Carolina Hurricanes, was based. The couple currently lives in Almo, California, with their two

daughters

.

Three years after their wedding, they welcomed their first child, Keara Kiyomi, in 2003. Not much is known about her except that she recently started her life in college. She is enrolled in the School of Theatre, Film, and Television at the University of California Los Angeles.

Her younger sister, Emma Yoshiko, was born two years later, on November 16, 2005. She has reportedly followed in her mother’s footsteps. The mother-daughter duo has skated together on several occasions.

The U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame member talked about the couple’s parenting saying, “My husband and I both wanted to let our daughters find their own path at their own time and encourage them to try a lot of things to see what sparked their interest.”

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