U.S OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : Without Partner and Father, Galindo Tries to Keep Going : Figure skating: Recent death of his father was a huge blow, coming years after Yamaguchi decided to go it alone.

For Rudy Galindo, this is how to deal with sorrow: Keep your head up, keep going.

Sometimes, though, it feels so lonely skating without his father, Jess, at the side of the rink. Jess died in April after suffering a heart attack.

Even now, three months later, Galindo sometimes glances over, half-expecting Jess to be there.

During those lonely moments, Galindo reminds himself how much Jess wanted him to continue skating. Keep your head up, keep going.

Galindo, the 1989 and 1990 national champion in pairs with former partner Kristi Yamaguchi, is skating alone at the U.S. Olympic Festival. He placed fourth after the men’s technical program Saturday at the Alamodome.

Michael Chack is in first place, followed by Aren Nielsen and Damon Allen. The 10-man competition will conclude after today’s free skating portion.

Competition is good at the festival, which includes three of the top five finishers at U.S. Nationals in January. They are Chack, who placed third at nationals, Nielsen, fourth, and Galindo, fifth.

Galindo said that he felt nervous before the festival. It is his first competition since his father died.

“I’m not going to lie,” Galindo said. “I feel a little sick to my stomach right now.”

It was easier when Jess was around. Jess’ habit of standing by the rink, wearing his cowboy hat and talking to anyone who would listen put Rudy at ease.

“He didn’t know what was going on in skating, he just knew that I was good,” Galindo said.

Jess, who worked as a truck driver, gave everything he had so that his son could continue to train. Jess could not buy a new home for his family because Rudy’s skating was so expensive.

Laura, Rudy’s older sister, also gave up her career in skating and took a job to help support Rudy. She currently coaches skating in San Jose, which is the family’s hometown.

All the sacrifice paid off when Galindo and Yamaguchi became the nation’s star pair. For two years, they seemed to be on top of the world.

For Jess, who had suffered several strokes, Rudy provided a reason to live.

One day, Jess told his son: “I’m holding on to see Kristi and you go to the Olympics.”

But after Yamaguchi and Galindo won their second national championship, she told him that she had decided to pursue a singles career. The U.S. Figure Skating Assn. had asked her to choose between the two events for the Olympics, and she was expected to place higher in singles.

Jess cried.

Rudy, too, was crushed.

“It took me a couple of years to get over that,” he said.

What’s more, after the split, people in the skating world--who Galindo thought were his friends--dropped him.

“When we were the two-time national champions, (people) used to call us all the time, see how we were doing. Then once we broke up, it was like they didn’t even know me.”

Galindo struggled when he began competing in singles after the split.

He had to lose 20 pounds because he no longer needed to be muscular for pairs. What’s more, he suddenly felt lonely and frightened on the ice.

“It was scary out there by myself, always reaching for someone. (Before), I could always hide behind Kristi,” he said.

But, slowly, Galindo has climbed to the top again. His fifth-place finish at the nationals increased the pressure on him at the festival. It is a type of pressure that he hasn’t felt in a while, but it feels good to have it again.

Also, those same folks who stopped talking to him after his split with Yamaguchi are starting to come around again. He wonders where they were when he needed them.

“I just say, ‘Hi’, and I’m cordial,” he said. “But I don’t have time for them.”

Galindo does not speak badly of Yamaguchi for leaving him. Instead, he said that she gave him the best memories of his skating career.

Fittingly, Yamaguchi was part of the torch lighting Friday at the festival’s opening ceremony, and Galindo is on track to have one of his best performances.

Galindo and Yamaguchi, who won the gold medal in singles at the 1992 Olympics, rarely talk anymore because she is so busy. She said in a news conference here, however, that she would be rooting for Rudy.

A lot of people are rooting for Galindo, but there is one person who still gives him the most inspiration.

“I wanted to make it big,” he said, “because that’s what I thought would be the perfect gift for my dad.”