Dateline NBC
Big thanks to Bryan Powell for transcribing this interview for the site!! :)
Sarah Hughes on "After the Gold Rush," Dateline, NBC, Sun., March 3, 2002,
feature with edited interview. Jane Pauley's comments include interview and
voice-overs ("vo"):
Jane Pauley: We begin with a teenager from Great Neck, N.Y.
[VIDEO OF SARAH, WITH COMMENTARY FROM ANNOUNCER: From the homemade hockey
rink her dad built in the backyard on Long Island to the cover of Time to
within reach of an Olympic medal, all at 16 years old]
Sarah: It's really ironic that I won, because that's not the goal that I had
in mind when I went out to skate. When I went out to skate I just wanted... I
had so much fun that week. I was able to eat with other athletes in the
village. I was able to see what the village was like, just meet some great
athletes and really inspirational people. And I went out, and I said, "I'm
going to show them what I can do. I'm going to do it! I'm going to do it!"
Jane (vo): More than 70 million viewers in this country alone watched her do
it. She was a revelation, even to herself.
Sarah: I was just so excited I was there, and I did it! And I did the hardest
program that I could, which made it even more exciting.
Jane (vo): Must have been those lucky pajamas.
Sarah: 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.
Jane: So you just can't stop wearing your Peggy Fleming...
Sarah: She's starting to fade, too, and--
Jane (vo): The t-shirt, she means. Sarah Hughes is poised to join an elite
club: Olympic champions who become icons of sport and culture.
[VIDEO OF SARAH UNVEILING HER WHEATIES BOX]
Sarah: It was so exciting. Did you know that that morning I got to meet Mary
Lou Retton?
Jane: I didn't know that.
Sarah: Yeah, and she's so spunky, and she has so much energy. And she's so
happy.
Jane: Did she give you any advice?
Sarah: You know, she told me to take care of myself, because she says it's
very important to always take care of yourself, and especially when there's
so much going on around you, sometimes you can forget.
Jane (vo): In an instant, fame and fortune fell at her feet.
Sarah: After Salt Lake, there was just so much stuff just came right at me,
and I didn't want to do all of it. I'm not emotionally ready to do it, and I
can't just keep on going from place to place to place--
[VIDEO OF GRAMMY APPEARANCE, WITH INTRODUCTION BY BACKSTREET BOYS: We'd like
to welcome somebody who's already a winner, Olympic gold medalist Sarah
Hughes.]
Sarah: I wanted to go to the Grammys, so I went. Y'know, basically, we're
just trying to keep it real.
Jane (vo): As real as possible. This spring she'll be touring with Champions
on Ice. She will have missed much of her junior year of high school, but this
honor student won't fall behind, because she was already way ahead.
Jane: Are you going to graduate on time?
Sarah: You know, I will graduate on time, because I was taking courses that
were ahead of my years. When I was in eighth grade, I was taking some high
school courses.
Jane (vo): Her destiny had been written long before that, in crayon, as a
first grader, whose fantasy came true in one remarkable performance.
[VIDEO OF OLYMPIC LONG PROGRAM]
Sarah: As a skater, there's no greater thing than having a whole arena on
their feet, screaming! Then I couldn't hear the end of my music!
Jane (vo): It looked like Sarah Hughes had won herself an Olympic medal... in
bronze. Before the hour was out, it had turned to gold.
[VIDEO OF SARAH AND ROBIN WAGNER, UPON LEARNING SHE'D WON THE GOLD MEDAL]
Sarah: It was interesting because when I started my program, I looked, 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.
[VIDEO OF AWARDS PRESENTATION, WITH NATIONAL ANTHEM]
Jane: Sarah Hughes. We're not likely to forget that one.
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