It was a dream of mine to be an Olympic champion but not a lifelong goal.
— Sarah Hughes
I showed everyone the medal and they said, 'Ooh, I can't believe how heavy it is,' Sometimes they were more interested in the medal than in me. I was like, 'Hey, what about me?'
I started skating because I loved it. I started when I was three and I didn't know all the sacrifices and all the hardships and how difficult day-in and day-out it would be.
I want to do some skating and then go to law school in three years. I'm enjoying it and I'm going to see where it takes me.
I wear my Peggy Fleming T-shirt when I go to sleep every night before I compete, and for the past four years, it's brought me incredible good luck.
I just skated for the fun of it.
Katarina Witt. She was the ultimate competitor. She would just stare down people before competition. She was relentless on the ice.
I could have been known for something terrible.
When I started my program... there was a big clock in the corner and I looked and it said nine o'clock exactly. And it was funny, because when I was standing on the podium, it said exactly 10 p.m., and this whole hour had changed my life.
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.
I didn't hold back.
I liked being active. I liked being creative.
When I was skating I felt I represented not just my family and the people who helped me make it to that point, but also New York and the country.
It's really ironic that I won, because that's not the goal that I had in mind when I went out to skate.
I think it was a great moment for America to have two ladies on the podium.
