Kristi Yamaguchi Is The Winner Of 'Dancing With The Stars'
Kristi Yamaguchi, the ice skater with all the right moves, danced her way as expected to the mirror ball trophy as the winner of “Dancing With The Stars” on Tuesday.Yamaguchi and professional partner Mark Ballas seemed a step above the rest of the dancing stars from the very first episode, racking up top scores in most weeks and never appearing in danger of dipping into the bottom two.Professional football player Jason Taylor finished second, leaving actor Cristián de la Fuente in third.
Yamaguchi, 36, becomes the first woman star to win the show since its debut season when actress Kelly Monaco won the title. Since then, viewers of the show – an estimated 75 percent of whom are women – have awarded male dancers with their votes and subsequent trophies.Matching perfect scores of 30 out of 30 in her final two dances, a cha-cha-cha and a freestyle in Monday's final performance episode, helped the Olympic gold medalist to defeat her two male rivals.
She joins the list of champions that began with Monaco and continued singer Drew Lachey, retired football player Emmitt Smith, former Olympic ice skater Apolo Anton Ohno and race car driver Helio Castronieves.Ballas becomes a winner in only his second season on the show. Last fall, he partnered with Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan, a Yorba Linda native, at first on the dance floor, and later off it.
