She has won the most prestiges title in figure skating but failed to win the other titles(National/GPF/Worlds). Do you think she needs a few World/National title to be considered as one of th great's of figure skating?
Or will Sarah be considered just another skater who competed for a little while and decided to ride the wave of success after winning one MAJOR title?
I don't think that Sarah Hughes will be considered one of the greats of figure skating. I think she will be remembered for having the skate of her life on just the right night.
I doubt she will be considered one of the greats of the sport, but winning that OGM the way she did, pretty much means she will be remembered. Just how much really depends on whether she returns to skating in the future ... or have we seen the last of her? My personal guess is that she will do some show skating in the years to come, and that here in the U.S. she will always have decent name recognition.
Sarah has 3 goals
1. win an olympic gold
2. 1600 in SAT
3. at least 6.0 in competition
She accomplished #1, we don't know about #2, and #3 may no longer be her goal. I think she has done very well.
I also think she has done very well. That makes me so proud of Sarah and her accomplishments! I have always loved her nice human nature, and great skating also!
The last three Ladies Oly Champs, in my opinion, were nothing more than cute children with a lot of luck on THAT night! Finally, little girls have found a sport just for themselves.
Joe
<strong>Or will Sarah be considered just another skater who competed for a little while and decided to ride the wave of success after winning one MAJOR title?</strong>
I think this is the case, but I don't know if it matters to her or not. I would think it WOULD bother her to be called a "fluke", even though her Olympic skate was fantastic. She may never escape this, but again, it may not bother her as much as it bothers her fans. I also think her "wave of success" is going to dry up. Out of site, out of mind. But again, she may have other priorities in her life. I can't really think of any other sport where the athlete quits competing after winning a major title. Even gymnasts stick around a while. To each their own, though.
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>I think she will be remembered for having the skate of her life on just the right night. [/quote]
I agree
however I think there's still so much she can give for the sport
who knows... she could end up running the ISU or USFSA! :lol:
Well, she's accomplished goal 3, technically anyway. She did at that 2002 spring USFSA cheesefest, 2 i think. But I think she got them because of the Oly Gold. I don't think she has ever, and will ever deserve them.
I wonder if she can do #2, she has the brains.
TV
Unless she decide to take SAT again after she is accepted by Harvard. I don't think she accomplished goal #2. Otherwise we would've heard it all over the Web or by the media.
That said, I do think she has the brains. IMO, one day she'll be remembered as OGM, who skated her lifetime at Oly then go on to become a doctor. There are a lot OGMs but not many of them with a Doctor degree.
MZheng, only one that I know of:
Tenley Albright, MD.
"Whatever you do, if you do it the best you can, has a relation to whatever else you do. People have said to me, 'What connection does surgery have to figure skating?'"
In 1956, only months after winning an Olympic Gold Medal, Tenley Albright entered Harvard Medical School. Today she is a surgeon, pioneering new techniques for the detection and treatment of cancer. Dr. Albright is based in Boston and is a member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. She is also a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee executive committee, the American College of Sports Medicine, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport, and the American Cancer Society's board of directors. She has also been inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Association's Hall of Fame.
Albright believes the discipline and dedication she learned on the road to becoming a world champion figure skater helped prepare her for her career in medicine. As a skater, she won five consecutive national championships, and was the first American woman ever to win the world title.
www.achievement.org/autod.../alb0pro-1
Don't forget Oly Bronze Medallist Debi Thomas. She was actually attending Stamford for pre-med while competing.
As for Sarah, I don't think she'll be considered one of the greats - especially if she doesn't return to competitive skating. Although she's a National and World medallist, she was only 'present' for 4 years and won one gold title on the night of her life.
I don't think it made a lot of impression upon the general public. She had very little hype going into Oly's. MK was the fave and if you ask a non-skating fan who won Oly gold, several would respond MK. SO, I really doubt she'll be a huge note in history unless something changes.
I don't believe Sarah will be considered a legend of the sport up to this point. She wasn't (or hasn't been) around long enough to leave a mark that was/is wholly hers. Was SLC a night of brilliance always to be remembered? Yes. Sarah was phenonmenal. But, unlike Tara or Oksana there is no other title to solidify her place among the greats. Both Tara and Oksana had surprising and brilliant World wins to go along with Olympic triumph. Sadly, as Michelle might be the greatest to never win Olympic Gold, Sarah might be the only Olympic Champion never to win another major title. I'd hate to see that for both of them, though in the end I'm sure it doesn't really matter. I'm just thinking about after a few more Olympic Champions are crowned and the shine from that SLC Gold medal is dimmer, the memory of such a hard fought victory is less recalled...how Sarah will be remembered. Whatever happens I will always remember that performance and the joy and determination Sarah demonstrated. It is among my favorite Olympic free programs and probably will stay that way even after Vancouver 2010!
>Joesitz
The last three Ladies Oly Champs, in my opinion, were nothing more than cute children with a lot of luck on THAT night! Finally, little girls have found a sport just for themselves.>
Well, generally speaking I believe that every Olympic winner in figure skating has not just lots of talent and determination, but also good luck behind them on THAT night.
About Oksana´s Olympic win I would say that Oksana was no surprise winner, e.g. for Europeans at least I would see her as the definete favourite for the win in Olympics. Also Tara, with her competitive record, was not a surprise winner in Olympics. She had had good nights before the Olympics already. The surprise in Nagano freeskate was Michelle. Before the Olympics there and also after the short programme she was the skater I hoped that would win the gold medal with a great skate. Afterwards I have thought that maybe the programme she had (it was of course a great choreography, etc.) was not under a huge Olympic pressure the best choice for a skater to express and to interpret? The Olympic pressure is much bigger than the one for Worlds, in my opinion.
Sarah was a surprise winner in SLC, at least to me, LOL. She had the skate of her life in that night in Olympics, and that is great for any athlete and something to feel very much proud of. How many other skaters were there in that Olympics who did the skate of their life? I mean surely in ladies competition there were lots of others also who had not the pressure of being seen as a favourite after the short programme? I mean those who were behind Sarah after the short programme and had nothing to lose.
What happens after the Olympics, is for every skater to decide. Different people have different values and different goals in life after they have reached something which they probably very much have seen as a huge dream as well as their personal goal in figure skating. Apparently some other matters are more important to Sarah in this moment than to win National titles and a World title. Besides, into the skating history she will always remain as the seventh US lady skater to win the Olympic gold medal in figure skating.
Marjaana
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Well, she's accomplished goal 3, technically anyway. She did at that 2002 spring USFSA cheesefest[/quote]
Thanks, I totally forgot about the cheesefest
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>I wonder if she can do #2, she has the brains[/quote]
She might have achieved #2, Sarah is a down to earth, unassuming young lady, she does not have the blow my own horn in your face kind of style.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks