Sarah Hughes

Sarah Hughes astonished the world on February 21, 2002 when she skated a joyous, perfect program to capture the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal in Women’s Figure Skating -- and our hearts. Her seemingly effortless and exuberant performance was the culmination of years of training and thousands of hours of practice, practice, practice. That night she became the first person to rebound from fourth place to win the gold medal since the short program-free skating scoring system was instituted in 1992…Ms. Hughes skated the most technically demanding long program ever seen in women’s Olympic figure skating competition -- including two triple-triple combinations (triple salchow/triple loop and triple toe/triple loop)…With her win, she became, at 16, the fourth youngest Olympic women’s figure skating champion ever and only the seventh American woman to capture figure skating’s most covenanted prize.

The grace and aplomb that Ms. Hughes has exhibited since her unforgettable winning moment have made this Great Neck, Long Island athlete a role model for young people everywhere. She has been hired as the spokesperson for General Electric Corporation, the first person to be entrusted with this position since former President Ronald Reagan in the 1950's. NBC hired her to produce two, prime-time specials portraying her experiences both as a skater and a teenager. She rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and received the Key to New York City from Mayor Bloomberg. In addition to the Presidential Award for Economic Excellence, Sarah has received numerous prestigious awards and honors – including 5 ESPY nominations, the ESPY award for Best Olympian, the March of Dimes Sportswoman of the Year, the Women’s Sport Foundation 2002 Athlete of the Year, the Robert Moses Master Builder Award, the New York State Broadcasters Association Carol Riley Award, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Spirit of Achievement Award, and the 2002 Sullivan Award recipient as the best amateur athlete in the United States. She was also as one of Barbara Walter’s “10 Most Fascinating of 2002”.

Sarah is now 26 years old and a graduate of Yale University. On January 21, 2010, Sarah was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.