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News
Olympic champ's visit thrills Churchill students : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOlympic champ's visit thrills Churchill students
| Figure skater turned author Yamaguchi answers questions, reads from new children's book
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 3/15/2012
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Students at Churchill Elementary School in Oswego had a chance to meet Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi Monday.
The celebrity skater who won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics and two world championships, came to the school compliments of Anderson Books in Naperville, according to Beth Krane, a volunteer in the Churchill Learning Resource Center (LRC).
Krane said Anderson's provides books for the school book fairs so the store makes their visiting authors available to the schools who use their services.
Yamaguchi, who has embark on a successful second career as an author of children's books, took time to autograph copies of her latest book "It's a Big World Little Pig", which was released last week.
She also read the book to the students who gathered in the school's community room and answered their questions.
She told the students she began skating at age six-about 30 years ago when she was growing up in California
"There was something magical about it-the costumes and the music and because it looked like fun," she said.
Her first international competition was at age 14, she said.
When Yamaguchi arrived at Churchill she was met by student ambassadors Eli Krane, a third grader, and Vera Mehnert, a fifth grader. The students introduced her to Principal Tammie Harmon and Assistant Principal Casey O'Connell. They then escorted her to the LRC where she met students and autographed copies of her book.
She was wearing blue jeans, a blue long-sleeved sweater and high heel boots. She smiled often during her visit and frequently interrupted her talking with hearty laughter.
Yamaguchi said she prefers to talk to elementary age children because they ask interesting questions like where she prefers to vacation.
The answer to that question was Hawaii "because there's no ice there. It's a vacation," she explained.
Yamaguchi has given up skating except for her own enjoyment. She said she does her skating indoors because she lives in California.
Yamaguchi recalled her most memorable experience was winning the gold medal at the Olympic games and walking in with the U.S. Team at the opening ceremonies.
"I didn't care what happened. Even though I was one of the last events to compete at the Olympics, I wanted to be there for the opening ceremony. That's where I met all the different athletes from different sports and different countries and the feeling was just incredible.
"And, of course, the feeling you get when you walk in as the United States Olympic Team and you hear the roar from the stadium. Walking around the entire stadium, the time went too fast," she said.
Her final question was from a girl who asked how she felt when she fell during her performance at the Olympics.
"Well, technically, I didn't fall because I did not fall on my bottom. I caught myself on my hand," she said.
"When this happens, you get up quickly and do your absolute best for the rest of the program so they forget about the mistake," she said.
The principal presented her with a bouquet of flowers and the students presented her with a large group of thank you cards they made in class.
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