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Sarah Hughes Profile |
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Birth Date: May 2, 1985
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Birth Place: Great Neck, New York, USA
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Birth Name: Sarah Elizabeth Hughes
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Height: 5'6"
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Biography |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. |
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Other
Information |
Parents are Amy Hughes and John Hughes.
Is the 2001 World skating bronze medalist
Older sister Rebecca was the editor of the newspaper at
Harvard
Is the fourth of sixth children.
Was named to the Chevrolet/USFSA Scholastic Honors Team for
her achievements in 2002 as a scholar-athlete
Was selected as the March of Dimes Sportswoman of the Year
Is a spokesperson for Campbell's Soup 'Labels for Education'
program
Has been named a finalist for the 2002 Sullivan Award
Was the 1998 U.S. junior national champion
coach Robin Wagner is also her choreographer
dad John was captain of Cornell's hockey team
Sister Emily's also a skater
Older brother Matt also plays hockey
Has an older sister, Rebecca, two older brothers - Matt &
David, & two younger sisters, Emily & Taylor
Plays the violin in her school orchestra
Sister Rebecca currently attends Columbia law school
Placed 7th at her 1st senior worlds (1999)
Placed 4th at her very 1st senior nationals (1999)
Is the 2000 & 2002 U.S. National bronze medalist (figure
skating).
Received early acceptance to Harvard
Had a 3.9 GPA in high school
Has 2 older brothers named Matt & David
older brother David's a junior at Cornell where he's also on
the hockey team
Is a straight-A student
Sister Taylor also figure skates
Is the 1999 junior world's silver medalist
After winning her Olympic title in Salt Lake City, she
attempted to make a comeback in the 2003 season. However,
she placed second behind Michelle Kwan at nationals and was
only sixth at the world championships (in which Kwan also
won the gold medal).
Although she is an Olympic champion, she has never won a
gold medal at the senior national or world championships.
Her highest placement at nationals was silver and a bronze
at worlds.
Older sister of Emily Hughes
2001 & 2003 U.S. Nationnal silver medalist (figure skating)
Placed 6th at the 2003 Worlds (figure skating)
2001 World bronze medalist (figure skating)
Graduated from Great Neck North High School (2003)
Is the 2002 Olympic Champion for ladies' figure skating
Attending Yale University [2005]
Became an aunt when older sister Rebecca gave birth to twin
girls in November 2004 |
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