Sarah's excellent adventures

Gold medalist enjoys hero's return to New York

Sarah's excellent adventures

Gold medalist enjoys hero's welcome in New York

When you are a high school junior looking for a break from classes in Great Neck, N.Y., an Olympic gold medal really comes in handy. Imagine the excuse notes Sarah Hughes could be writing now that she's returned to school after a month in Salt Lake City.

Sorry, guys, I have to go to the Grammys today. No, not just to watch, but to present an award. If you need to find me, I'll be hanging with Bono, *N Sync and Celine Dion. We're tight. I've skated to Celine's music. Her heart will go on, and so will my 15 minutes.

I'd get that book report in sooner, too, but Jane Pauley needs a few minutes with me tomorrow and Rosie O'Donnell has dibs on next Wednesday.

Later, I'll be ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and getting the key to New York City from the mayor, so there goes that science exam.

The New York Rangers, who haven't been standing up much better than Michelle Kwan lately, have invited me to drop a puck for them, so I'll be mixing a little hooky with a bit of hockey.

I also need to pick up the newest Wheaties box to add to my collection. Been keeping 'em since I just about got out of my high chair -- Mary Lou Retton, the Mag 7 gymnasts, Tiger Woods. Got 'em all, I tell ya. And the new one has a picture of ... let's see, um, me.

This is a pretty good life. You'd have thought someone had invited Tonya Harding to join the photographers at City Hall Monday morning the way they jockeyed for a vantage point to snap an extra shot of Hughes holding up the key she'd just received from mayor Michael Bloomberg. "Stills, down; down in front. Sarah, this way. Sarah, right here, please. Watch it, stills. Hey, big guy, down, will ya? Sarah, one more."

Bloomberg was impressed with the off-ice Hughes, too, drawing comparisons to former Olympic champion Tenley Albright, who is now a doctor in Massachusetts. "Sarah's aspirations are to finish high school, go to college, go to medical school and save the world," he said. "Sarah, you symbolize everything that is good about America. The only thing we would ask is that you move into New York City."

Of course, it only takes about an hour on the Long Island Railroad to get from Great Neck to Penn Station, and then it's just a quick, 10-minute hop on the No. 1 local train to the midtown rink in Rockefeller Center, her favorite place to skate in the country. So, the city can claim her as a local. Her father, John, pointed out that since Sept. 11, the music from Sarah's exhibition routines have paid tribute to the fallen victims, including Jonathan Yelpi, a firefighter who was a close family friend. Hughes proudly spoke of the diversity and culture of her neighboring city, which is, itself, an Olympic aspirant, bidding to host the Summer Games in 2012. "That's what New York is all about anyway," she said. "It would make everybody proud, not just New Yorkers, to have the Olympics here."

It wasn't the only time during the proceedings that Hughes upstaged the politician. As Bloomberg began taking more serious questions during his regular press conference that followed the key ceremony, Hughes was sitting off to the side with her coach, Robin Wagner. Reporters started asking about a recent article in Time magazine that quoted law-enforcement agents as saying there had been credible rumblings about a nuclear threat to New York last fall. Bloomberg addressed several inquiries on the sobering topic, but once Hughes and Wagner began whispering asides to one another, the photographers again jockeyed for the next day's newspaper photo. "There is a slight diversion off to my left," Bloomberg noted. "We will continue to talk about war and peace after you finish."

Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers Olympic sports for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

Related information
Stories
American Hughes wins figure skating gold SI's Brian Cazeneuve: Winter Games top 10 Brian Cazeneuve's Insider Archive
Multimedia
Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.