 Rudy
Galindo's improbable but decisive win in the 1996 U.S.
National Figure Skating Championships taught skating fans
never to underestimate his ability to generate a comeback.
His return to his best finish
yet in the 2000 World Professional Championships left him
determined to come back to try and grab the title in 2001. Not
bad for someone HIV-positive who thought his skating days were
behind him.
His second-place finish at the
December pro championships capped a year that saw Galindo
reassert his artistry on ice and dedicate much of his time to
educate the world about living with HIV.
Galindo's lungs shut down on
him 30 seconds into his energetic ``Prince’’ program in
the Feb. 4, 2000, performance of the Champions On Ice Winter
Tour in Raleigh, NC. He waved to the audience and abruptly
left the ice. He struggled again to compete at the Goodwill
Games a few weeks later. Obviously ailing in his televised
performance, he withdrew after the technical program, finally
convinced of the seriousness of the illness that had afflicted
him for well over a month.
Rudy was diagnosed HIV positive
in early March while he was being treated for pneumonia. (In a
recent article in the Reno Gazette-Journal, he said his lung
capacity was at 23% at that time, and he felt his career was
over.
He began antiretroviral
treatment in later March, announced his HIV status on April 5
in USA Today, and was back on the ice with the
Champions On Ice Summer Tour at its April 6 opening in
Baltimore. Performing a less physically demanding program, the
heartbreakingly poignant and moving "Send In the
Clowns" worked perfectly for both Rudy and his audiences.
He missed only five Tour stops for scheduled medical tests and
to be with his sister, Laura, when she gave birth to her
second child.
 Vowing
to become more active in AIDS related causes and
organizations, Rudy began by leading and speaking at the San
Francisco International AIDS Candlelight March on May 21. He
later became the Honorary Co-Chairman of the National Minority
AIDS Council and spokesperson for NMAC's 2000 Summer Campaign
against HIV-related anemia. He did
a poster on behalf of this campaign. He attended and
spoke at the annual NMAC Conference in Atlanta in early
October, and hosted the World AIDS Day tribute to the council’s
Dr. Beny Primm at the National Press Club in Washington, DC,
on Nov. 30.
Many felt that Rudy might wind
down his career by doing the Champions on Ice Tour and skating
in exhibitions and shows, and that preparing to compete would
prove too demanding for him. His 1999 competitive season had
been disappointing, and Rudy later admitted "something
was wrong."
After completing the Summer
Tour and a July three-week stint in "Broadway on
Ice" at the Andy Williams Theatre in Branson, Mo., Rudy
came home to Reno resolved to train and develop new programs
for the coming professional skating season.
He was invited to compete in
the Grand Slam of Skating in early October, Ice Wars in
November, and the World Professional Championships in
December. Motivated by wanting to show that an athlete living
with HIV could continue to perform at the elite level in his
sport, he was determined to have a successful season. These
events were televised on FOX, CBS, and NBC, respectively.
Rudy's training consisted of
twice-a-day ice time, daily work work in the gym, and Pilates
to capitalize on his already outstanding flexibility. He
worked on retraining all of his triple jumps, including the
triple axel (the most difficult one), and greatly improved his
stamina. His sister, Laura Galindo-Black, and he selected the
music and did the choreography for all of his programs.
He went directly from the
minority AIDS conference in Atlanta to the Grand Slam of
Figure Skating in Minneapolis where the audiences and his
fellow skaters were overjoyed to witness a remarkable return
to his best form.
Rudy skated three new programs
flawlessly, successfully completed all of the triple jumps he
attempted (maximum four per program), and produced fast spins
and spin combinations (including an original combination).
Commentators Rosalyn Sumners
and Paul Wylie didn't have to remind anyone about his always
stellar artistry and presentation and shared the audience's
enthusiasm at his wonderful comeback. Wylie suggested it was
as significant as his "momentous" '96 Nationals win.
Rudy and Surya Bonaly, skating as a team, made the finals and
finished second to Brian Boitano and Yuka Sato in a close
match in which all four skaters had clean performances.
Throughout his 2000
competitions, Rudy used a Fosse medley ("Big Spender and
"Hot Honey Rag") for his technical program. He also
skated to a second Fosse medley at the Grand Slam ("Life
Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" and the rousing "Sing!
Sing! Sing!"), and to Mariah Carey's "Can't Take
That Away," a song that commentator Jeanne Zelasko called
as much Rudy's statement as his music.
In the Ice Wars competition on
Nov. 9, difficult ice caused uncharacteristic falls for Rudy
and such stalwarts as Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi.
However, Rudy was back on track when he introduced a new
artistic program to Danny Wright's "Colors of the
Wind." Completing a dramatic opening triple axel and
skating a beautiful and flowing program, he concluded the
event with the top total score of the US Team and the second
high individual score in the event.
The World Professional Figure
Skating Championships held annually in December at the MCI
Center in Washington, DC, is the high point of the competitive
professional skating year. Rudy's second-place finish was a
remarkable culmination to a season many thought would never
be.
Although it's hard to believe
Rudy could be defeated on the basis of theatrics, Philippe
Candeloro did just that with a "Wild, Wild West"
program featuring a saloon entrance curtain to shield three
costume changes and some indeed wild, but less than perfect
skating. Rudy's "Colors of the Wind" was marred only
by a slight turnout on his opening triple axel (done in a
poorly lit arena). The skating purists in the audience seemed
to much prefer it. Former pairs skater Paul Martini later
wrote in an online article in Iskater.com, "The
performance that should have won was that of Rudy Galindo of
the United States."
This year, Rudy was on
the Champions on Ice Winter Tour from Jan. 4 through Feb. 9,
and will be on the Summer Tour from March 30 through May 3.
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