Girl, Interrupted - Real Life Distracts Hughes

[Skatewind]

Article from the Washington Post:

Real Life Distracts Hughes (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41821-2003Mar17.html)

[olivia]

Wow! Sarah is really downplaying expectations for Worlds. Well, I won't be counting her out despite what she says. She's a real fighter.

The tidbit about SOI was interesting. Sarah has so many options. It must be sort of maddening.

Oh, the article says Sarah finished behind Kwan and Cohen at Nationals. That's the second time I've read that. Amazing how inaccurate figure skating reporting can be.

Thanks for posting the article.

O-

[adrianchew]

Kudos to Sarah for considering the options and taking her time to decide on her future, but realizing that being less than fully prepared and going into Worlds this way is not the best...

"But the situation I'm in now, the best of my ability is not really my full potential. . . . I'm not really happy going into worlds feeling like this."

This is so unlike Michelle who seems totally content in staying with her comfort zone and not pushing herself...

"I’m much more comfortable with what I did at nationals."

Even Robin Wagner has echoed my previous thoughts about how skaters need to compete a full season, and not make a half-season effort...

"If she wants to continue to compete, it has to be a full effort, a full season, not a half-effort like this season," Coach Robin Wagner said. "We've always really thrived on training. Performing is wonderful, but great moments come through breakthroughs in training -- sweat and tears. When you don't have many, many months behind you, it's frustrating. It's been frustrating for both of us."

I hope Sarah does her best at Worlds given the preparation she's had - even if I have problems with areas of her technique, the honest no excuses analysis of where she stands from her team is very refreshing to see. It takes effort to be at your best, and both Sarah and Robin know that, which is a good thing. 8-)

[venice]

That is a really nice article. I like Sarah a lot, but I'm not sure I entirely believe that she is that unprepared. She didn't look bad at all at nationals and she's had time to work more since then. I wonder if they're trying to lull everyone into a false sense of security and then we'll watch her come out like gangbusters.

By the way, she also states that she is considering joining SOI as an eligible so she "doesn't have to compete so often". Sounds like Sarah is in a very similar mindset to Michelle. I believe it was her coach that said she had to compete a full season, Sarah's statement sounds like she is considering the opposite.

[Blue Ridge]

A part of me almost wishes she hadn't won gold at Olys last year. Then she'd be focused for the next 3 years on the goal of gold in Turin, and we'd see lots and lots of her very best skating. I guess it must be confusing to have a monkey-wrench like winning gold thrown into your plans! :D

[venice]

BlueRidge,

ITA. I'm really happy for Sarah, but it's a little bittersweet. I would have liked to have seen her skating develop over the next few years. I don't think her heart is in it though. I'll think she'll retain her eligibility, however. As I said before, I think she'll scale down the way Michelle has, but still compete whenever she can. I hope so, anyway.

[CMc]

I really have to say--Sarah!!! Do SOI!!! PLEASE!! :D
She could do that AND go to college! Why not??

After all the horrible news on TV and online about Iraq and the Smart case and all that stuff, this didn't seem like such bad news to me for some reason! Sarah's options...all seem to be good, and it doesn't seem that anything she does would be a mistake. I certainly hope she'll be happy with whatever the choice is for her immediate future. But I also hope if she decides to pack it in after Worlds that she at least finishes on a spectacular note.

[kwanette]

A very interesting article. Sarah certainly has lots of options and I am sure that she will decide to do what is best for her. SOI could sure use another lady in the cast. Perhaps she could do that tour from Oct when practices start through April and manage to fit some college courses in. She wouldn't have the full college experience but she might enjoy the touring life for a while.

Adrian, I am not sure, however, what this article has to do with Michelle Kwan. Sarah is weighing her options and expressing that she doesn't feel as prepared as SHE feels she could be. Michelle is choosing her own path. I am sure that Sasha is choosing hers as well. I contend that each of these ladies has that right. I am not so sure that being in a comfort zone is bad for MK...And I think it is great that Sasha is attempting to raise the bar technically....

Sarah attained the goal to which all skaters aspire. Michelle and Sasha haven't as yet...and may not. But each is an individual and who is to say that one way is the right way....

I am sure that Sarah will be a success whether she chooses an academic life or a skating life. She appears to be that sort of a young lady...and I still would never count her out at Worlds...

[LAVENDER]

I think Sarah is ready but doesn't want the expectations. No one wants the pressure of being the fav after the Olympics because the fav doesn't win. I think Sarah would love to go back to underdog status but she has that title of expectations now. I think she's going to still skate good and who knows she may win.

I swear they keep putting her behind Sasha.

[rack]

Sarah always exceeds my expectations. I hope the same holds true at Worlds!

Congratulations to her on winning the Sullivan Award.:D

[yogurtslinger]

The thing is, a "half effort" by Michelle (meaning, technically watered down, but artistically "on") will still trump a "half effort" by Sarah... who, even at her best, has questionable technique. Michelle is playing it smart. Sarah knows (at the very least) that the judges wouldn't give it to her unless she is totally "on". There *is* a difference. Both are being realistic and practical.

[CMc]

Anybody notice the writer Ms. Shipley made a glaring mistake and said Sarah won bronze at Nationals??
She must not have watched a Nationals competition in at least a year! ;)

[Rachel]

Could Sarah really do SOI and go to college? I know she could go during the summers, but wouldn't she be busy the rest of the year?

This is a real question. I don't follow SOI, so I'm not sure how their schedule works.

[GinnySmith]

I never underestimate Sarah Hughes. Nor do I underestimate the capacity of Sarah and Robin to downplay her preparedness for any competition.

IMHO, they are playing it close to the vest and taking the same "Stealth-like" approach they did to the 2002 Olympics. Robin and Sarah learned from a lackluster and uninspired LP performance at the 2002 Nationals that they needed some "umph" at the end of the LP, ergo, they changed the last 90 seconds of Sarah's LP, to the point of where it was very similar to Michelle's 2002 Nationals performance right down to the split falling leafs by the time the Olympics rolled around. I said it before--Sarah finishing #3 at the 2002 Nationals was a great wake-up call to her and the best thing that could have happened. Changes were made and it made a difference....

I am older than most folks here. There is an old adage in business: "Under promise and over deliver." That is exactly what I believe is being done here. Sarah and Robin are making it sound as if Sarah is not ready. I don't buy it. Sarah has competed less than anyone and has had more time to prepare. I believe she is very ready for Worlds.

Finally, I respectfully disagree that Michelle's statement that she felt comfortable with what she did at Nationals is any kind of indication that she is lazy or complacent. I only wish that I could find that level of comfort in my own skating. Michelle knows what she has to do to stay in this. I totally respect what this young woman has done for the sport and believe that it will be a very long time before anyone holds a candle to Michelle's contributions to figure skating.

[kwanette]

SOI doesn't tour in the summer. They open in Lake Placid Thanksgiving weekend and do a show a few days after Christmas and then the tour lasts from jan usually into April combined with CSOI.

[Norlite]

Sarah is considering doing SOI and staying Olympic eligible?

Gosh...:roll:

Didn't we go through all this with the Eldredge last fall?

Remember.....SOI is not sanctioned by the USFSA, and Todd is using that reason as an excuse as to why his contract offer was pulled by his federation.

[AnnieD]

Interesting article. I really hope that she stays eligible and keeps competing. I don't understand how on Earth she could go to college and manage SOI at the same time. They're on the road from January through April, surely she'd have to be in classes then?! I'd also be interested to see what the USFSA would do about her eligibility if she decided to go that route. I also have to add that at the moment I'm not sure she'd fit in with SOI. She's still very young

In all honesty it really must be hard for her. I know that if I'd won the Olympic gold, the motivation to keep training for another four years would be hard to find. However, she still doesn't have a World or US National title, so maybe the desire to add those to her collection will keep her going.

[Schmeck]

I'm surprised that SOI is pursuing her. I know they need female single skaters, but I figured they'd be "once bitten, twice shy" to sign a teenaged, injured-after-the-Olympics Ladies Gold Medalist. And I really can't see the Hughes letting her tour on her own, or which parent would go with her? What about her siblings?

[irene2020]

I don't think sarah will join SOI as a regular at all - at least not in near future. It does not make sense - sarah is giving up eligible competitive skating because she will busy with school, even though she likes competition. But then, she is giving up school for SOI???!

I don't think SOI will pursue sarah seriously. As an advertisement tactic - and a free one, may be. (So, people who follows sarah hughes but not a big fan of professional figure skating will hear more about SOI.) Ask her for a few guest appereances? Yes. Pursue her seriously next yeat a regular? I don't think so.

And if Sarah does give up school and eligible skating for SOI, I think she is eating a lot of her words. Well, but the world of big money, fame, and less work is always very attractive and can tempt anyone.

Didn't michelle said she wanted to be a lawyer and possible did so at Harvard. Now, I think she would much rather work witih disney or wear a bikini to some award shows instead of sweating for a law degree anywhere. BTW, has she completed her degree yet? Didn't she broke up with Lorri nicole etc because she wanted more time to study while lorri found it very frustrating that michelle was not training on ice as she should have.

[olivia]

Kwan said she didn't want to do all the traveling to Canada where Lori Nichol is based. Since Kwan started with Lori, things changed quite a bit (i.e., Nichol became a sought-after choreographer who simply couldn't have the same level of commitment to one skater ... perfectly understandable, but Kwan was used to being Nichol's focus, that is, until Sale and Pelletier came along). Logistically, as I'm sure anyone can imagine, it's difficult honing and polishing programs when your choreographer is far away and not as willing to travel. Besides, there's probably more to the story anyway. With all the "same old, same old" complaints, Kwan may have just realized it was time for a change. I don't see what that has to do with college, bikinis, Disney or anything else.

As for Sarah, I just can't see her making a mistake here. Her options are all wonderful, and she will definitely start and finish college at some point. Who knows where? Good for her. Sarah has worked hard to have all of these opportunities to choose from. I also don't see Sarah signing with SOI, but you never know. If Sarah wins Worlds, she may feel satisfied enough with her eligible career to move on to other pursuits.

O-

[adrianchew]

Originally posted by olivia

Besides, there's probably more to the story anyway. With all the "same old, same old" complaints, Kwan may have just realized it was time for a change. I don't see what that has to do with college, bikinis, Disney or anything else.

There's more to the story but its pretty simple - there was a difference of opinion between approaches - Nichols wanted to give Kwan more chereography than Kwan wanted to handle. If you look at the beginnings, the early programs Lori did had a lot of detail, but as time went by, the programs became "simpler" with less details... this is Kwan's doing. Look what happened Kawahara's chereography - it was vastly simplified from the initial incarnation too.

Lori Nichols is capable of very intricate chereography that would challenge almost anyone... Orchid was a chereographical masterpiece but it was so difficult even S&P decided to choose the simpler Love Story program to use for the Olys.

It would seem like Kwan has finally learned that taking the easy way out was costly (Olys) and has since worked this past season to add back content. And travelling is hardly a problem - Kwan seems perfectly capable of making frequent visits to Florida when her boyfriend was playing for the Florida Panthers - he's now playing for a team in Arizona I believe.

[kwanette]

Unfortunately, choreography takes a back seat to jumping. We have all seen programs change from the beginning of the season to later in the season. Sasha's Rach seems a bit "more bare" than it was at Campbell's.
I wonder if the judges care about meaningful choreography...It seems jump counting is the norm...lately...

[adrianchew]

Well given this was originally a topic on Sarah - she actually did increase content not just in jumps but revised chereography too... before the Olympics. It seems to have paid of. I don't think skaters should make their programs easier if at all possible - Sasha is certainly no exception... but I suspect what we saw at GPFs happened for reasons other than those obvious to most folks.

[olivia]

Originally posted by adrianchew
It would seem like Kwan has finally learned that taking the easy way out was costly (Olys) and has since worked this past season to add back content.

Maybe. Maybe not. I think Kwan's fall in the LP was what cost her the Gold in SLC, not the content of her LP. But, it IS good to see all the ladies adding content. I think Sarah is the best example of this in both her SP and LP this season. The challenge will be keeping the content and completing an LP with (a) the choreographic content, and (b) "all the jumps." We've yet to see that this season from any of the ladies. Hope we see it at Worlds.

O-

[kwanette]

IMO, Sarah won the lp at the Olympics, and deservedly so, (although 4 judges were obviously on something when they hit their scorepads) with a clean program and two 3/3's. Yes,she jazzed up the ending with the leap jumps, but the bottom line is that Irina, Sasha and Michelle faltered and Sarah didn't. I don't think it was choreography that won her the gold.I don't remember what Sarah's presentation scores were off-hand...were they higher than the other three ladies?

Sarah has a lot of movement in her program...probably the most of all of the ladies.....but a clean program with a 3/3 or more will win the day.

[icyboid]

Regarding the article, I find it refreshing that Sarah's so level-headed and honest about these things.

She truly is an All American girl, with the stress of college apps and schooling. :)

[wvgal57]

It just registered with me what I really admire about Sarah, she's just so honest and so upfront. She's making no bones about the fact that this season has been hard for her and she's struggling with choices that she never envisioned before SLC. How refreshing to see the honesty.

Sad though that an Olympic Gold Medal which is the most cherished of any and all medals, I guess the Mother of All Medals, could put such pressures and take some of the joy out of the wonderful accomplishment. Sort of makes you think that its not really worth it after all, she's so young but now she's got so many options that in some ways she is not going to really get to savor her skating career.

I sense pressure on her to continue skating from within herself but it seems as if her parents and Robyn are very firm in telling her that she must make up her own mind.

[irene2020]

Lori Nichols is capable of very intricate chereography that would challenge almost anyone... Orchid was a chereographical masterpiece but it was so difficult even S&P decided to choose the simpler Love Story program to use for the Olys.

This is right on. S&P skated the dame beginner love story for 3 years. The couldn't land any jumps or throws when they did Orchid - at GP or at the national etc. This is why I think it's very unfair that all the media ignored most of the program but just highlighted that Anton screwed up the double axel. The fact is, when S&P and E&A were shown side by side on the jumps - taking off the double axel at the same time, even though Anton wobbled on the double axel, he got back in sycn with eleanor and completed the rest of the series of jumps completely in sync - while on the right-hand screen, S&P were still doing walking steps and preparing for the take off of the next double in their jump series.

**************

Now w.r.t. michelle losing the gold because of her fall not because of her choreography? The american judge was interviewed after the program - he said that both kwan and irina have problems with the connection between the jumps, but Sarah's program was choreographed with connecting steps. (NOTE that this is the SAME american judge who has given the first 6.0 in his lifetime to kwan in 98.) Also, several judges were interviewed after skate america last year - and they said that Sarah beat michelle in terms of musicality, connecting steps, ice coverage etc. So, I think michelle lost on BOTH her fall and her choreography. But if she hadn't fallen, she would probably win because of her reputation and the sentiments. But given that she had problems in both jumps and choreography, even if the judges were desparate to give her the gold, they could not save her.

The commentators who have always been crazy about kwan said the same thing last year before the olympics - that michelle who was famous for paying attention to details was actually missing out on the details.

Sometimes, biased praises are not necessary good for kwan. In fact, they had clearly clouded her head and cost her the gold after 4 years of waiting. Sometimes, a good friend or fan lends a honest opinion. If you really hate someone, keep on praising her when she is heading down on the wrong path.

Even though kwan is not the best skater, she is very smart when she is not clouded by blind praises. I think Kwan is very aware of the degradation in her choreography and this is why
1) she reused lori's program for the olympci short and
2) started working on and improving her choreography this year.

[irene2020]

Sad though that an Olympic Gold Medal which is the most cherished of any and all medals, I guess the Mother of All Medals, could put such pressures and take some of the joy out of the wonderful accomplishment. Sort of makes you think that its not really worth it after all, she's so young but now she's got so many options that in some ways she is not going to really get to savor her skating career.

On the contracry, I don't think there is anything sad about it and I think it is very clear that in Sarah's case that the olympic gold is worth it - even though I cannot say the same for everyone else. Sarah has used the olympic gold better than anyone else I have seen. She used it to promote education and made campell start a program to help schools with less funding. She used it to promote health care - breast cancer awareness. She used it to make GE recognize and honour the health care professionals.

Ok, I am sounding like I am sarah's agent here... so, I will stop. But honestly, I think the olympic gold has given sarah many options that she wouldn't have otherwise, and allowed her to bring out a lot of goods and joy to many people. If this is not worth it, I don't know what is. And if we we have to feel sad because we have options, then I don't know what to say to people who have no options. The gold may not be worth it in some people cases, but in sarah's case, it is definitely worth it. And a little pressure amoung so many good things happening can only do sarah good by making her stronger and more senstive to others.

Even though I clearly like sasha' skating the best this season, I am rooting for Sarah for the reason of all the goods she has done with her olympic gold. No other olympic or world champion has come close.