Val Joe "Rudy" Galindo (born September 7, 1969 in San Jose, California) is an American figure skater who competed in both single skating and pair skating. As a single skater, he is the 1996 U.S. national champion and 1987 World Junior Champion. As a pair skater, he competed with Kristi Yamaguchi; they were the 1988 World Junior Champions and the 1989 & 1990 U.S. national champions.
Biography
with partner Kristi Yamaguchi at the 1990 US Figure Skating Championships.
Galindo skated pairs with Kristi Yamaguchi, winning the 1988 World Junior Championship and the U.S. senior championships in 1989 and 1990. He also won the 1987 World Junior Championship in singles before temporarily giving up on singles competition in order to concentrate on pairs. After his partnership with Yamaguchi broke up in 1990, Galindo returned to singles competition. In 1996, Galindo won the men's title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the San Jose Arena, becoming the oldest male to win this title in almost 50 years. He followed this win with a bronze medal at the 1996 World Championships.
Galindo retired from eligible competition in the summer of 1996. After being diagnosed as HIV positive and recovering from hip replacement surgery, Rudy continued to tour with the Tom Collins' Champions on Ice show until they went out of business after the 2007 season.
Galindo disclosed his Homosexuality in Christine Brennan's book Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey Into the Secret World of Figure Skating (ISBN 0-385-48607-3), which was published shortly before he won his national title in 1996.
He published his autobiography Icebreaker in 1997 (ISBN 0-671-00390-9).
Competitive highlights
Singles career
| Event | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 3rd | ||||||||||||
| World Junior Championships | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | ||||||||||
| U.S. Championships | 1st N. | 5th J. | 3rd J. | 3rd J. | 8th | 10th | 11th | 8th | 5th | 7th | 8th | 1st | |
| Vienna Cup | 1st | ||||||||||||
| Nations Cup | 4th | ||||||||||||
| Prague Skate | 2nd | ||||||||||||
| Asko Cup | 1st | ||||||||||||
| Pokal der Blauen Schwerter | 2nd | ||||||||||||
| Grand Prize SNP | 1st |
- N = Novice level; J = Junior level
Pairs career
(with Yamaguchi)
| Event | 1984-1985 | 1985-1986 | 1986-1987 | 1987-1988 | 1988-1989 | 1989-1990 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 5th | 5th | ||||
| World Junior Championships | 5th | 3rd | 1st | |||
| U.S. Championships | 5th J. | 1st J. | 5th | 5th | 1st | 1st |
| Skate America | 5th | 2nd | ||||
| NHK Trophy | 3rd | 4th | ||||
| Skate Electric | 1st |
- J = Junior level