MSNBC Interview
Big thanks to Bryan Powell for transcribing this interview for the site!! :)
Sarah Hughes on MSNBC, Friday, Feb. 22, 2002, taped interview with edited
introduction:
Sarah: Tuesday, I felt that I was skating for a medal, and that was really
what I was trying to do. But after I was in fourth I, really, it's not that I
didn't care, that I didn't want a medal, but it wasn't really the main
priority why I was skating and what my goals were. Just everything kind of
shifted, and I just went out and skated, and I wanted to have a good time. It
was really the first time ever that I felt like I skated full out the whole
program.
MSNBC: And you know, the crowd and everybody watching felt your enthusiasm.
You nailed those triple-triples. Did you realize when you were doing them
that no other woman had done two of them in an Olympic program before?
Sarah: No, I didn't realize that, but nowadays you need it, so I'm glad that
I did it.
MSNBC: Does this bring your... obviously you're at a very brand new level
here, but coming to the Olympics itself I know was a huge thing in itself.
Did you come with expectations of walking away with a medal?
Sarah: Well, um, being a bronze medalist last year at Worlds, I did come in
with some expectations, and I think that's what I originally came in with,
but there wasn't too much hype about me. There wasn't much pressure from the
media at all, because no one really expected this to happen. I don't think
anybody expected this to happen, especially after Tuesday night. And so, I
was just able to skate free.
MSNBC: And we were all trying to do the math there at the end, we were
watching you backstage there with your coach. You're trying to watch, you're
waiting for these numbers, there was this tie. Did you know exactly what you
were looking for? Did you know what victory would add up to?
Sarah: No, you know I really didn't have any idea until, um, Scott Hamilton,
they put the TVs on, and Scott Hamilton said, "Well, if it's a three-way tie,
Hughes wins." And that was the first thing that I'd heard him say all night
long, and then right [inaudible] I was like, "Oh, no. What's going to
happen?" And then I got a little nervous at that point, but [LAUGHS]--
MSNBC: So you're watching--
Sarah: --it was a great night, and... I'm sorry, go on.
MSNBC: So you're watching the TV like the rest of us, trying to figure out if
you're about to win or not?
Sarah: Yeah, I didn't even watch. I heard him say that, and I didn't want to
even hear anything else. But, you know, it's so surprising, because I didn't
even think it was possible, and it really was a miracle.
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