The Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award for Sportsmanship is the pinnacle honor bestowed at the Musial Awards. It recognizes iconic sports figures who exemplify sportsmanship and embody the class, dignity, generosity, excellence, civility and integrity for which Stan the Man was known.

Floating across the ice, Kristi Yamaguchi embodied elegance. Since ending her competitive skating days, she has exuded similar grace as an author, mentor for Asian American skaters and ambassador for the sport. Few would guess at the grind and hard work required to rise up, blaze a trail and guide others to greatness: steps that define her journey to the Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kristi’s beginnings were humbling and stumbling. Her mother, Carole, was born in a World War II internment camp. Kristi was born with club feet, wearing braces and corrective shoes as a toddler. Because her older sister, Lori, skated, Kristi took up the sport as physical therapy.

It freed her soul. Kristi was naturally shy, but skating provided “a feeling of freedom, of gliding on the ice, where I could express myself in a way I had never felt.”

Her favorite toy was a Dorothy Hamill doll, modeled after the 1976 Olympic gold medalist. But Kristi’s role model was Tiffany Chin, who in 1984 became the first Asian American U.S. figure skating champion.

There were no Tiffany Chin dolls.

Kristi took a leap forward in 1992, becoming the first Asian American to win a gold medal at an Olympic Winter Games. Though she later won two world championships and entered the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2005, taking on the mantle of role model was at first awkward.

“I think it’s really intimidating as an athlete to think, ‘Oh, wow. I’m representing a whole culture out there,’” she told U.S. Figure Skating in May. “So, I don’t think I really thought about it.”But just as she practiced the elements to perfect her triple lutz-double toe combination, she worked step-by-step at her dual roles as ambassador and role model. Among the stops on her journey: In 1996, she founded Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream, which provides thousands of families with the tools to build early literacy skills at home. She also has written five books, “Figure Skating for Dummies” (1997) and “Dream Big, Little Pig” (2011), which rose to No. 2 on The New York Times bestseller list and received the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award. We have a special place in our hearts for “Cara’s Kindness,” (2016) since sportsmanship is rooted in kindness. She served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and received the Thurman Munson Award in 2008 for excellence in competition and philanthropy. In 2018, she became the third athlete to receive the Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award, which recognizes community involvement.

Kristi serves as ambassador of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation, dedicated to supporting Team USA athletes on and off the field. In doing so, she inspires Asian American skaters of all abilities. She has also mentored Karen Chen, who helped Team USA win the team event at the 2022 Olympics, and reigning world champion Alysa Liu

“Now, I think there’s a lot more pride and a lot more consciousness about (being a role model), and I think it’s amazing because it does really help lift up … and bring more attention and more engagement with the Asian American community.  I think about Tiffany Chin … to see how far it has come has been amazing.”

At long last, in 2024, she became a doll, part of Barbie’s “Inspiring Women” line. It’s a fitting counterpoint to the rough-hewn, kinda cumbersome Musial. One highlights her grace and elegance. The other portrays her struggle, grit, perseverance and strength otherwise unseen.