Rudy Galindo: 1969—: Ice Skater Biography - Followed His Sister Into Skating, Paired With Kristi Yamaguchi, Struggled To Build A Singles Career
win national championship
Rudy Galindo: 1969—: Ice skater.
Rudy Galindo was the first Mexican American and the first openly gay figure skater to win a United States National Championship. Galindo overcame family problems and financial difficulties to become an accomplished and popular skater. He began his career as a pairs skater with champion Kristi Yamaguchi and then focused on his singles career. After winning the national championship in his hometown of San Jose, California, Galindo went on to win a bronze medal at the World Championships. Gal-indo then turned professional and he now skates in exhibition tours, such as Champions on Ice.
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Val Joe Galindo, nicknamed Rudy, was born on September 7, 1969, in San Jose, California. He was the third child born to Jess Galindo, a truck driver of Mexican descent, and Margaret Galindo, a part-time assembly line worker in a computer factory. His brother, George, was ten years older than him, and sister Laura was five years older than him. The Galindos lived in a small trailer in a rough neigh…
In 1982 Galindo's skating career took off. He started training with a new coach, Jim Hulick, who was the best coach in the San Francisco Bay area. He also met Kristi Yamaguchi at a skating rink in Pleasanton, California. After watching his sister skate pairs and noticing how well Kristi skated, Galindo approached his coach with the idea of skating pairs with Yamaguchi. At first his coach di…
After their win in the 1990 national competition, Galindo and Yamaguchi ended their pairs career together so that Yamaguchi could focus on singles in preparation for the 1992 Olympics. Galindo was disappointed not only because he had hoped to compete in the pairs competition at the Olympics, but also because he had sacrificed his singles career for their pairs team. It would have been very difficu…
Although Galindo was tired of the disappointments of skating, he decided to stick with the sport for one more year, since the 1996 United States National Championships were to be held in his hometown of San Jose. This time he asked his sister Laura to be his coach. Galindo did not have unreasonable expectations for his performance, but he hoped to place in the top five to make the national televis…
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