Sarah Hughes win Sullivan Award

[mkscfan]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030319/ap_on_sp_ot/sullivan_award_1

[RisenAshes]

Congratulations Sarah!
It's great that Sarah won this award! It was getting rare for figure skaters to win this award, seeing the huge gap between Dick and Michelle!!! It was great when she said that she was glad to represent the sport of figure skating! GO SARAH!!!
Hopefully, Sasha can win next year -- hehehe... :D

[sk8ing_lady2001]

My sincere congratulations go out to Sarah. I am so proud of her. Obviously I also hope that Sasha can win next year. :D

[honey827]

How wonderful for Sarah:D

[loveskating]

Congrats to Sarah.

She had enormous heart to land those two 3/3s in those circumstances, and thus gave Americans a great moment, and I'm sure she will never be forgotten by them.

[Ashley]

That's really awesome for Sarah. She must be really happy!

[Redvispa]

deleted...sorry

[~GoSasha~]

WAHOO SARAH!!!!! She deserved it:)

[wullywully]

A question: then by the logic of the Sullivan which awards athletes based on their accomplishments over the year, if Sasha wins Worlds this year do you think she'll get a Sullivan too? After all, she's had arguably the most successful season of either Michelle or Sarah this year, with SC, Lalique, GPF (on Irina's *and* Vika's home turf no less), a few fluff competitions, etc.

I'm absolutely serious here. I know that while Irina won't be defending, it would seem nothing short of irrational if Sasha doesn't get, at the very least, nominated for the Sullivan if she does indeed win Worlds. While I think it's utterly naive to think that past accomplishments (Michelle) or the magnitude of a single accomplishment (Sarah) don't play a bearing on the selection of Sullivan awardees -- they certainly do, whether or not the Sullivan judging committee acknowledge this -- it would be extremely odd and a travesty if Sasha were not to be nominated if she does win Worlds.

In 2001, Michelle's main victories were SA (hotly contested -- many thought Sarah should have won), Worlds (a triumph) and Nats (a very middling performance, IMO for what Michelle is capable of). In 2002, Sarah won SC (again, utterly justified and accurate) and the Olys with cheated 3-3s. On the basis of how Sarah has handled herself alone I'd say she's won that Sullivan fair and square, but in terms of accomplishments, I wonder if Sasha will get a fair shake if she wins Worlds. I am willing to bet that she WON'T. Thoughts?

[Redvispa]

This season, Sasha was the most successful skater... however even if she wins Worlds she will NOT be nominated for a couple of reasons. Sarah won the olympics and sprang into the public eye... Sasha is not famouse and not recognizable...unless you are a skating fan, you probably don't know who she is. Afte the Olympics everyone knew who she was. Add to the fact that she pulled a major upset, not just the coming back from behind thing, but she beat Michelle Kwan who up to that point had already been givent he title of Olympic champ... So no...even if she would deserve a nomination, I sincerely doubt that Sasha will get nominated....

[wullywully]

that gets one nominated. For example, Kristen Maloney was nominated for a Sullivan in '98 and I doubt that anyone who doesn't follow gymnastics would know who she was. I think it's definitely the case that name recognition does play an increasingly big part, but not to the point where it's become an imperative.

Although if Sasha does win Worlds, thus giving her a more successful season in terms of number of wins than either Michelle in '01 or Sarah in '02, and *doesn't* get nominated, then yes, I'll agree with your line of thinking and say that Sullivan is more about media visibility than the accomplishments achieved in a particular year.

On a side note, I still think Michelle's win in '01 was more an overdue gesture than anything else. She should have won the Sullivan in '96, or even more fittingly, in '98 -- when she LOST the Oly gold with dignity. To me that's what shows a true sportswoman.

[GreekGoddess85]

Originally posted by loveskating
Congrats to Sarah.

She had enormous heart to land those two 3/3s in those circumstances, and thus gave Americans a great moment, and I'm sure she will never be forgotten by them.

I agree 100% with you :)
I am so glad she won she totally deserved it
and she made NY look awesome :)

[mkscfan]

being noticed that is taken into consideration when nominating an athlete in any sport for the Sullivan award.

The criteria also includes leadership, sportsmanship, moral responsiblity, and contributions to the community. In other words, a well-rounded athlete. Sarah winning the gold medal thrust her further into the spotlight, but she was already there in a way. It made the AAU look at her overall achievements off the ice as well as on the ice.

The same thing applied to Michelle Kwan even though she won bronze. The same thing will apply to Sasha if she wins Worlds this year.

I congratulate Sarah on her win even though I was so sure that Natalie Coughlin would win. Besides her impressive 4 World records, 12 US Championships, 6 NCAA championships, Female World Swimmer of the year (all of this done in 2002, mind you), she also is an excellent sportswoman, a leader in her sport, has a high academic standard, and gives back to her community. I thought she had it this year because this year was MUCH better than last year.

BUT, I am happy for Sarah. One more figure skater joins the ranks of the few. Well, the 3!!!:cheer:

[SashaSpiral]

Yeah, I totally thought Natalie Coughlin would win too! Oh well, congratulations Sarah! I sort of wanted Natalie to win though, because she has a cool name (OH YEAH!), she's a great athlete, and I also live about 10 minutes away from UC Berkeley, where she goes, so she's our local girl! Local loyalty! Ah well, it's great that Sarah won. :D

[GreekGoddess85]

hehe Natalie LOL
well to be honest Sarah is also a local girl here too LOL
so I know how you feel :)
well maybe next year Natalie can win :)

[Dustin]

Originally posted by Redvispa
[B]hahahaha...........:lol: :lol: :lol:

Please make an attempt to be slightly more mature in your responses.

Also, about name recognition... a good amount of non-fans know who she is. She was on the Olympic team (many interviews, TV experiences, etc.) and she has done many TV interviews since (Today Show multiple times, news networks, Thanksgiving Day parade, etc.).

[Skatingfreak]

Congrats to Sarah! She deserved the award, and hey, you never know if Sasha will get it next year, or the year after. Anything is possible. And its also nice they're giving skaters more recognition these days.

[Redvispa]

sorry for offending anyone...I deleted my message