Machiko Yamada has helped two women rise to the top of the figure skating world, but she dislikes being called a world-class coach.
Yamada helped Midori Ito, now 36, take the top spot at the 1989 world championship in Paris and capture a silver medal in the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France. With a triple axel in her routine, she became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic figure skating medal.
The 62-year-old coach is now working with Mao Asada, who won the world junior championship in March in Kitchener, Canada, in her first appearance on the international figure skating scene.