WOMEN'S FIGURE SKATING: SISTER SEE, SISTER DO? HUGHES WILL TRY TO DUPLICATE GOLD.Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer TURIN, Italy - They raid each other's closets, wear each other's clothes and each has a third-place finish Noun 1. third-place finish - a finish in third place (as in a race) finish - designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the winner is the team with the at the U.S. Figure Skating U.S. Figure Skating (USFS), officially called the United States Figure Skating Association or USFSA, is the national sport governing body for figure skating in the United States. Championships on her resume. But Emily Hughes Emily Hughes (born January 26, 1989) is an American figure skater. She is the 2007 U.S. National silver medalist. She is the younger sister of Sarah Hughes, who won a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. is not her sister Sarah, she made clear Friday. ``I'm definitely a different person than Sarah,'' Emily Hughes said. ``She's my sister, and people will compare us, inevitably, and you know what? I don't think it's too bad to be compared to a gold medalist.'' Sarah Hughes For the US District Court judge, see . Sarah Elizabeth Hughes (born May 2, 1985 in Great Neck, New York) is an American figure skater and the 2002 Olympic gold medalist. was an upset winner at the 2002 Olympics. That night in Salt Lake City, Emily sat with the rest of the family and ``cheered Sarah on from the third tier'' of the Delta Center. Four years later, the roles are reversed. Emily will be on the ice, beginning with the women's short program Tuesday, and Sarah will be cheering from the Palavela stands with the Hughes contingent. Emily, 17, and Sarah, 20, resemble each other, facially. Each arrived at the Winter Games
But they are different creatures, on skates. ``She skates righty right·y Informal n. pl. right·ies 1. A right-handed person. 2. An advocate or member of the political right. adv. and I skate lefty,'' Emily said. ``There's a pretty big difference.'' It goes beyond which foot the Hughes sisters first put forward. Sarah popped jumps like Orville Redenbacher For the brand of popcorn, see . Orville C. Redenbacher (July 16, 1907 – September 19, 1995) was an American businessman most often associated with the brand of popping corn that bears his name. pops corn. It was her athleticism and hang time that brought her the gold over Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya in 2002. Emily is more ground-bound, but perhaps more elegant. She can contort con·tort v. con·tort·ed, con·tort·ing, con·torts v.tr. To twist, wrench, or bend severely out of shape: pain that contorted their faces. v.intr. into the Biellman spin, the tortuous move calling for a skate behind her ear, and she is known for good pace on the ice. Jumping, however, is Emily's weakness, something she has been addressing since she found out, last Saturday, that she was coming to the Turin Olympics to replace the injured Michelle Kwan on the U.S. team. (Her first full day in Italy was Friday.) Hughes landed only four triple jumps in her free skate program at the nationals, and fell on another, the triple toe-loop. She has no triple-triple combination in her program, as leading contenders Sasha Cohen and Slutskaya do. But Hughes is working on it. ``After nationals we decided to change a few things,'' she said, ``to get higher levels on spins and spirals and add a few jumps to get higher base (scoring) marks.'' Is a triple-triple combination among those additions? ``You never know what you might see out there,'' she said. Meaning what, she was asked. ``It means we're working on it, and if I feel comfortable that day, it might be in there.'' Hughes, a high school junior and native of Great Neck, N.Y., on Long Island, isn't exactly a chatter box. She needed less than 25 minutes to answer about 25 questions Friday, usually responding in three sentences or fewer. She seemed composed and comfortable, even though she conceded the past week has been ``a whirlwind.'' She suggested all the media attention she has received, particularly from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of media, has been ``pretty cool.'' Both Hughes sisters are stingy stin·gy adj. stin·gi·er, stin·gi·est 1. Giving or spending reluctantly. 2. Scanty or meager: a stingy meal; stingy with details about the past. with personal details, perhaps on advice from their father, John, an attorney and former captain of a Cornell hockey team that won the 1970 NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association title. It is known that Emily considers cooking a hobby and hopes to attend a culinary school. She also was the subject of a children's book, published in 2002, entitled ``I Am a Skater.'' The book detailed the life of an aspiring skater, Emily, then only 12 years old. Hughes eventually conceded Friday to a bit of nerves, beneath her placid exterior. ``This is the Olympics, so I definitely am a little nervous,'' she said. ``But I think it's the kind of nerves that can be good, that make you want to skate better.'' Perhaps not much should be expected from Emily Hughes; she was only third, after all, behind Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. and Kimmie Meissner, at nationals last month. But Sarah was third, too, and U.S. skate fans almost certainly will be hoping Olympics success runs in the family. Paul Oberjuerge, (909) 386-3865 paul.oberjuerge(at)sbsun.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Emily Hughes, sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah, performs a Biellman spin. Mark Baker/Associated Press |
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