Barbie is paying homage to trailblazing figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi with a new doll.
The launch of the Yamaguchi doll, which went on sale Wednesday, coincides with the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May, according to a news release. The doll’s black leotard with gold accents is inspired by Yamaguchi’s costume from the 1992 Olympic Winter Games, where she became the first Asian American woman to win an individual gold medal in figure skating.
“I think it’s important to see representation. I think growing up with Barbies and playing with them, you really did, as a child, use your imagination and create them to be whoever you wanted them to be,” Yamaguchi told NBC News of getting her own doll. “I think the more important and impactful stories you can maybe feed their minds with is really, really great.”
The doll joins several others in the “Inspiring Women” line, which pays tribute to history-making women including Celia Cruz, Bessie Coleman and Anna May Wong. Yamaguchi, a two-time world champion and Olympic Hall of Famer, said she worked with the Barbie team, sending close-up photos of the fabric and other details from her iconic outfit. The result, she said, was remarkably accurate.
“The design team was really incredible even down to the shape and the look of the skates and the little logo on it,” she told NBC News. “They even got the poof hair with the bangs!”
Revisiting her iconic dress made for a sentimental moment, Yamaguchi said.
“I only competed at the Olympics in that dress. … Even the world championships a month and a half after the Olympics, I wore a different dress,” she said. “That dress is so specific to that gold medal performance. It’s emotional in a way that it just brings back all of the memories from that moment.”
Yamaguchi’s win at the Olympics came during a time when there were few mainstream, Asian American pop culture role models. Yamaguchi herself said she was aware that in…
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