Has anyone seen Sarah H skate lately?

[JDC1]

I'm just curious, I don't want any inside information or what music she may or may not be using. I was just wondering if anyone had seen her skate and knew if she was intent on showing up at Nationals.

[Serenity]

According to the official USFSA website, Sarah Hughes will not compete in the 2003-2004 season. She enrolled at Yale University this fall and wants to enjoy her freshman year without the pressure of competitive skating. She is still training, though, so it seems that she's keeping her options open.

[Debbie S]

I think the only official word from the Hughes camp is that Sarah is not competing in the GP series or in the fall made-for-TV events (like Campbell's). She filed her paperwork to compete at Nats by the 9/1 deadline, and because she (obviously) has byes through Regionals and Sectionals, she has until the draw at Nats to withdraw. I suspect we'll hear much earlier, though, and I don't expect to see her there, but her options for Nats are still open AFAIK.

[shadymc]

While it's true Sarah's options are open for Nationals, I also doubt she will be there. Robin said last year that the reason Sarah had so much trouble at Nationals and Worlds was because she missed the Grand Prix series. I can't imagine she would go for Nationals as her first competition of the year.

I keep wondering what would have happened if Sarah had won silver at the Olympics. i.e. would she have postponed school competely, or just went part time. Does anybody know what her original plan was?

[MQSeries]

I think college was always a definite thing for Sarah even before the gold medal. But my bet is that Sarah would have stay active in the eligible scene for a few more years before committing to college full time if she hadn't won the gold medal. Oh well, I'm sure it's neat for the Yale students to see an Olympic champion gliding on their ice-rink. Maybe Sarah can start start an annual benefit show at Yale similar to the Harvard's Jimmy Fund show.

[SkateGuard]

Considering that both parents are Cornell grads, she has two brothers at Cornell, and her sister didn't postpone Harvard when their mother was fighting breast cancer, I doubt Sarah would have postponed college for any length of time...higher learning seems extremely important to this family.

Ironically, I have become a fan of Gilmore Girls, where one of the characters is a freshman at Yale. Every time there's a scene at "Yale", I think of Sarah!

Erin
(who hopes Sarah is enjoying the ups and downs of freshman year.)

[sk8ergirl]

Not to take anything away from her olympic performance, but I think she had the smarts to realize to call it quits when she was on top, knowing that she had nothing more to gain, and lots to lose by continuing her skating carrer. Lets face it, she really had no pressure on her at the olympics because, not even her coach expected she would be in any position to win after her short program.

[Aussie Willy]

Just a question because I don't quite understand the way the US system works, but just say if Sarah does not compete at Nats next year, but decides to the following year, would she receive a bye at the Regionals or have to compete at them to get a spot at Nationals?

[shadymc]

For those of you in New York, Sarah will be appearing at Fortunoff in Westbury Long Island on November 29, 1 - 4 p.m. to sign Christmas ornaments for charity.

[JDC1]

My understanding is that unless Sarah was invited to one of the GP competitions and the dates conflicted with Regionals she'd be required to do Regionals. Angela N was required to compete this year and she won her region so she'll be at Nats. I think the top 5 receive an automatic bye. But frankly if someone sits an entire season out, particularly after how poorly she skated last year (in relation to her potential) I think you'd want as much competition as practice to tweak your program and get your competitive legs under you.


Erin, I've become a Gilmore Girls fan too!! I caught the show a couple of years ago (I guess in it's first year) and it didn't interst me then I caught some re-runs earlier this year and I was hooked. I think it would be a hoot if she "ran" into Sarah on campus.

[karina1974]

Originally posted by JDC1
I think it would be a hoot if she "ran" into Sarah on campus.

Kind of like Kerri Strug's being on 90210. She appeared as a student signing up for classes at the fictional California University, which was modeled after UCLA, where she was a freshman in the Fall of 1996.