Today Show
**Watch the video of this interview!**
Big thanks to Bryan Powell for transcribing this interview for the site!! :)
Sarah Hughes on the Today Show, Fri., Feb. 22, 2002, 8:46 a.m. Eastern Time
(6:46 a.m. Mountain), interview by Katie Couric:
Katie: Thursday night Sarah Hughes didn't think she had any chance to win the
ladies' figure skating gold medal, but today she's got it, and it is hanging
around her neck. There it is, Sarah, hold it up. Sarah Hughes,
congratulations, and can you believe it?
Sarah: No, it's really been a whirlwind ever since I won.
Katie: I bet. You know, I was thinking you must be on cloud ten this morning,
cloud nine just isn't good enough, is it?
Sarah: Yeah, it was really an amazing night last night. I had a great skate,
and I think a lot of miracles happened.
Katie: You know, it was great. One of the most wonderful moments, among many
wonderful moments in your performance, was when you and your coach, Robin
Wagner, were sitting in the back after you'd skated [VIDEO CLIP OF SARAH AND
ROBIN WAGNER AIRS AS INTERVIEW CONTINUES], and you realized that you had in
fact won the gold medal. You all were in a state of shock, weren't you?
Clearly!
Sarah: Yeah, you know, just winning the medal was great, but it's not really
what I came here to do. When I first came here, I thought, wouldn't it be
great to get a medal, and I was third last year at Worlds, and it was a huge
step up for me, and it was just a huge moment in my life, and, y'know, once I
got here, it really didn't matter any more to me. I just wanted to go out and
enjoy the experience. I wanted to skate. I wanted to soak it all in. I wanted
to hang out with the other athletes and eat lunch, y'know, in the cafeteria--
Katie: Somebody from Latvia at the table next to you, and somebody from
Switzerland, and Mexico. It's incredible, isn't it?
Sarah: Exactly. And, y'know, I really, I really got to do all that. And so I
just went out there, and I skated. I didn't really feel so much pressure.
Katie: I was going to say, you seemed extremely relaxed in your long program.
We've got some video of you skating, and we can talk about how you felt out
on the ice. [VIDEO OF LONG PROGRAM BEGINS] First of all, I mean, it was a
clean program, the goal of every Olympic skater, which I know you were
thrilled every time you nailed a jump.
Sarah: [LAUGHS]
Katie: You could see it all over your face! You were so excited!
Sarah: Yeah, I was a little nervous in the short program, because it's, you
have to do eight elements and whenever you mess up, there are mandatory
deductions, and, um, being in fourth, I just went for everything. And so,
every time I was on my feet, I was, "Wow, this is great! I'm on my feet!" And
the crowd was amazing.
Katie: Oh, yeah, they were so, so happy for you, and you were the first
American skater to come out, and so the hometown crowd went absolutely wild,
which must have been fun, too. You know, it seems to me, Sarah, in a way,
being in fourth going into the long program was really a blessing, because it
really did lift some of that intense pressure and nervousness from you.
Sarah: Yeah, it really did. I didn't really even feel any pressure. Maybe if
I was third or something, but, I really, I just thought, this may be my only
time at the Olympics, this is just the chance of a lifetime, and I said, "You
know what, I don't have any control over what the judges do. I can just try
my best and skate my hardest." And I think what every skater dreams of is not
only skating the best program they can possibly skate, but, y'know, having
the crowd roar at the end, and it was just so loud I couldn't even hear my
music.
Katie: [REFERRING TO VIDEO OF PERFORMANCE, AND ROAR OF THE CROWD] That was
your triple-triple--
Sarah: That was my second triple-triple, actually.
Katie: Wow, you're amazing! You were the first woman, I guess, to ever
complete TWO triple-triple combinations, right?
Sarah: I guess so.
Katie: So that's one for the record books. Why were you intent on doing that?
I mean, that was pretty risky, wasn't it, Sarah?
Sarah: Uh, yeah, actually, it was incredibly risky, since I'd never done that
before in competition. But, coming in here as the third U.S. lady, no one
ever really counted me as a gold medal favorite, less a medal contender, so I
changed the last 90 sec- well my coach and I decided to change the last 90
seconds of my program because, the music was so beautiful but we wanted to
bring it up. And afterwards my coach went to the music studio with the guy
who cuts my music and they just kept going over it and when she came to me
with this last 90 seconds which was very different, I actually fell in love
with it. And I said, "Wow, this is really exactly what I've always thought my
program should end with." And I think that and changing my program to make it
more technically difficult actually helped me incredibly.
Katie: [AS VIDEO OF PERFORMANCE ENDS] And when you got your scores, you were
clearly ecstatic, as was your coach, Robin Wagner, because it put you in the
number one spot. And you stayed there as Sasha Cohen, Michelle and Irina
followed you. Was it strange? Because in a way, you were kind of waiting for
them to not do so well, in a funny way. I guess you didn't think of that, but
that's sort of is what happened.
Sarah: You never wanna, you never wanna, I always hope for the best for
everyone. For real, because, y'know Irina and Michelle are both really classy
ladies and they're just such great skaters and tough competitors and I think
that, y'know, they make the competition so much more exciting for everybody
else and I'm just glad to be able to compete against them and y'know, to be
able to compete with such great skaters and on top of the world.
Katie: In fact, standing on the medal stand, you, between Irina Slutskaya and
Michelle Kwan. First of all, you're 16 years old, Irina is 23, Michelle is
21. They're sort of, I hate to say it because they're very young, but the
"grande dames" of figure skating. Um, is it a little strange at all, or what
did it feel like?
Sarah: It wasn't really strange, it was a great moment. I think it was a
great moment for America to have two ladies on the podium. And I mean, I
really like Irina and Michelle, they're great people and, y'know, it's nice
that we were all able to share this moment together.
Katie: Did they talk with you after the competition at all? Did you have a
chance to speak with them?
Sarah: Yeah, we all congratulated each other and we all put up a really great
fight out there. I mean, we all, none of us let up, and it was really just a
battle.
Katie: Before we go, I have to ask you, I loved meeting your entire family,
Sarah. They are so great. Your mom, did she watch you skate? 'Cause she said
that she can't.
Sarah: Yeah, I don't think she could at all, this time, probably. But,
y'know, she, whenever, ever since I was younger, she always used to love to
just love to watch me skate and she used to tape me. And whenever we watched
the tape, the camera would shake and you'd see, y'know, I was so small and
you'd see me going up and down.
Katie: Because she was so nervous?
Sarah: Because she was so nervous.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Katie: Well, she probably should give the video camera to somebody else,
right?
Sarah: Yes.
Katie: Well, congratulations, Sarah, we're all so thrilled for you, and you
skated beautifully and I know you and everybody is so proud, so thanks for
coming by.
Sarah: Oh, thank you, Katie, for having me.
Katie: And enjoy the weekend. Have a good time.
Sarah: Oh, thank you.
Katie: Now you can relax a bit. And still to come: Al, believe it or not,
will learn to build a bobsled! But first, this is Today, on NBC.
Katie: [OFF MIC, DURING MUSIC SEGUE] Thanks, Sarah, thank you.
Sarah: Oh, thank you for having me.
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