Athletes - Sarah Hughes

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	Athletes - Sarah Hughes

Sarah Elizabeth Hughes (born May 2, 1985 in Great Neck, New York) was the Olympic gold medalist in women's figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Biography

Hughes is the fourth of six children; her father is a Canadian of Irish descent and her mother, Amy Pasternack, is a Jewish American. Her younger sister, Emily Hughes, was the women's 2006 bronze medalist in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, and she also placed seventh at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

Olympic champion

Hughes narrowly won the 2002 Olympic women's figure skating event, edging out Russia's Irina Slutskaya in a tie-breaker after Michelle Kwan faltered and fell to third place. In her long program, Hughes landed seven triple jumps, including two triple-triple combinations. She had been in fourth place going into the long program and few people predicted she would win. Although she appeared on the cover of Time magazine the week before the event, Hughes was considered the third-best American skater at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City behind the top two finishers at the 2002 U.S. National Championships: the favorite, Michelle Kwan, and Sasha Cohen.

After her Olympic win, Hughes was honored with an enormous parade in her hometown of Great Neck. Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the event, and declared it was Sarah Hughes Day.

Hughes decided not to compete at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships. The demands on her time of being an Olympic champion, combined with lucrative offers and endorsements, negatively impacted her skating. She finished in 6th place at the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships and henceforth withdrew from amateur skating. Although an Olympic champion, Hughes never won either a World or U.S. National title.

Though she was not competing in the 2006 Torino Olympics herself, she was there cheering on her younger sister Emily Hughes, who took seventh place in ladies' figure skating there.

Aftermath

Hughes decided not to return to competitive figure skating to defend her Olympic gold medal title at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Instead, she skated professionally and began attending Yale University. The last women's Olympic champion to defend her title was Katarina Witt of East Germany, who won in 1984 and in 1988.

She is now a student at Yale University, but took the 2004-2005 year off to skate professionally with the Smuckers Stars on Ice tour company. In 2002, she received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the U.S.

Competitive highlights

1998

U.S. Championships, Junior - 1st

1999

U.S. Championships - 4th
World Junior Championships - 2nd
World Championships - 7th

2000

U.S. Championships - 3rd
World Championships - 5th

2001

U.S. Championships - 2nd
Grand Prix Final - 3rd
World Championships - 3rd

2002

Grand Prix Final - 2nd
U.S. Championships - 3rd
Olympics - 1st

2003

U.S. Championships - 2nd
World Championships - 6th

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Sarah Hughes ]

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Athletes - Sarah Hughes

Biography

Olympic champion

Aftermath

Competitive highlights

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