24 Olympic Moments That Defined the Sport of Figure Skating

American women were on top of the figure skating world in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At the 1992 Olympics, all three American women placed within the top four. Leading the way was Kristi Yamaguchi, who had only switched to singles' skating a few years earlier. As recently as 1988, Yamaguchi was a pairs skater, partnered with fellow future skating legend Rudy Galindo. By 1992, however, she'd made a name for herself in the singles discipline and went into the Olympics as the defending US national champion and world champion. Yamaguchi's first-place finish marked the first time an Asian American woman won gold at the Winter Olympics.

Watch Yamaguchi skate to Olympic gold here.