Kristi Yamaoka

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Kristi Yamaoka (born 1987) is an American cheerleader and current student at Southern Illinois University from Springfield, Illinois. On Sunday, March 5, 2006 she fell off of a human pyramid during a cheerleading performance in a game between Southern Illinois and Bradley University at the Scottrade Center (then known as the Savvis Center) in St. Louis. Her performance from the stretcher as she was carried off the court was nationwide news. She suffered a chipped neck vertebra, concussion, and bruised lung, and has since made a full recovery.

1 The fall
2 After the fall
3 Consequences of the fall
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] The fall

During a timeout with 3:25 left in the game, the SIU cheerleading squad was performing a human pyramid. Prior to the fall, Ms. Yamaoka was on the third tier of the pyramid, and was expected to do splits, and then follow that with leaning forward and performing flip and front rollout. Prior to the flip, she leaned backward, lost her balance, and fell backward approximately 11 feet (3.5 meters) off of the pyramid, landing on her head hushing the crowd of about 14,000.

[edit] After the fall

Immediately following the fall, Ms. Yamaoka was motionless on the floor. Despite the fall, she asked not to be taken from the game. She was placed in a back and neck brace and taken to Saint Louis University Hospital. As she was leaving the court on a stretcher, the SIU pep band began playing the school's fight song, ""Go Southern Go". She stunned the crowd by performing her cheerleading routine from a stretcher as she was wheeled off the court. Footage of her performing from the stretcher was shown in broadcast media including ESPN and CNN, and news of her performance was carried on hundreds of print media outlets. She was released from the hospital on March 7, 2006.

The SIU Salukis beat Bradley 59-46 in the game (the Missouri Valley Conference men's tournament final), earning their fifth-straight berth in the NCAA tournament.

Following the game, Ms. Yamaoka went to New York City and appeared on NBC's The Today Show, and was quoted as saying "My biggest concern was that I didn't want my squad to be distracted, so that they could continue cheering on the team, and I didn't want my team to be distracted from winning the game". She also received a call from President Bush.^[1] Initially, the hospital did not believe the call was real. Diane Sawyer, a former cheerleader herself, also called her.

Ms. Yamaoka missed the remainder of the 2006 season as she recuperated from her injuries, and then returned for the 2006-07 football and basketball seasons.^[2]

[edit] Consequences of the fall

As a result of the fall, the Missouri Valley Conference banned tossing or launching of cheerleaders, and no pyramid may be higher than two levels during that conference's women's basketball tournament. Additionally, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators recommended banning basket tosses and high pyramids without mats. Though the group has no authority to prevent such routines, the NCAA requires cheerleading squads to conform to the group's requirements. There has been negative reaction to the ban, with cheerleading coaches noting that these routines are performed thousands of times per year without incident. However, the AACCA rules committee made the bans permanent on July 11, 2006:

The committee unanimously voted for sweeping revisions to cheerleading safety rules, the most major of which restricts specific upper-level skills during basketball games. Basket tosses, 2½ high pyramids, one-arm stunts, stunts that involve twisting or flipping, and twisting tumbling skills may only be performed during halftime and post-game on a matted surface and are prohibited during game play or time-outs.^[3]

[edit] Trivia

Ms. Yamaoka graduated from Springfield High School in Springfield, Illinois in 2004.
At the time of the fall she was 4 feet 9 inches tall, and weighed just over 100 pounds.
On March 11, 2006, Ms. Yamaoka was named as "having the best week ever" by the VH1 show Best Week Ever
There was concern at the time that, due to her injuries, she would not be able to perform for tryouts for the 2006-2007 cheerleading squad. The head coach of the squad alleviated these concerns, guaranteeing her a spot on the squad.
Cheerleading is the leading cause of direct catastrophic injuries to female athletes at both the high school (52.1%) and college (64.5%) levels.^[4]