Amazing Figure Skating Gold For Underdog Sarah Hughes - Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics 

This right here is the definition of magic and destiny. This was in the cards for her all along. Absolutely incredible. Been watching it over and over all of these years.

That was one of the all-time great athletic performances, male or female. Watching it on TV as it happened, it was unbelievable watching this young skater totally in the zone, in the biggest performance of her life, on the biggest stage.

You can see the passion and joy in her ice skating, especially at the end. Other competitors are just hungry for the gold, not really taking in the moment. That's what made her different.

I show this video to so many folks, from time to time, just to prove how being humble, hard working, committed, graceful & grateful pays off. I saw this when it occurred, and I just dropped to the floor with glee. I'll never forget that night. I still get nervous before her jumps, cry when she when finishes. Unbelievable, and absolutely one of the top best moments in Olympic history!!

I'm Russian. And I can say honestly. Sarah deserved this gold for this performance

She was so underestimated, and proved herself to be so worthy of her win. You have to love this.

I'll never forget watching this live. It was like watching perfection happen.

An all-time classic Olympic performance! Everything fell right for Sarah that day, but first, she needed to do this! ^^^^^^^^

To all your critics: She gave a flawless performance. The fact that others made mistakes speaks to their inability when you are called to the plate to show up 100% She gave an absolute perfect performance-that is the difference. Technically and artistically this young lady gave that ONE performance that will be iconic.

I’ve been watching a marathon of Olympic figure skating routines and Sarah is definitely the happiest looking dancer I’ve seen so far

Wow.. Her performance really influence me with her smile n passion 😍 she looks so free n happy while skating there like nobody can stop her ☺️ ❤️the ending

Who ever put this tribute together of Sarah's Gold medal performance did a wonderful job. This is by far the best quality video of all the video's I have watched. Thank you for putting this together. The music is awesome also. Bravo to you and Bravo Sarah Hughes Olympic Gold Medal Champion.

I was and still am a huge Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen fan, but when I saw Sarah skate I was like she brought it today. She skated amazingly and there was no stopping her.

“Hughes wasn’t worried about gold. She said later that she wasn’t even thinking about medals, which she usually does. She was thinking, I’ll show them. She was angry, all right. About nationals. About her fourth-place standing. Now she’d show everyone what she could do.” -E.M. Swift on Sarah Hughes in Sports Illustrated, March 4, 2002. I kept that issue. I have carried it across 4 cities for almost 20 years because the story of a 16 year-old underdog who set her heart on fire and burned down the world of figure skating in a single night has never left me and never will. May we all be so brave to blaze on like this.

Sarah was amazing and deserved to win. Stop being so critical.

The people who are criticizing her need to realize that 1) this happened OVER 10 YEARS AGO and 2) Sarah herself even acknowledged that she didn't think it was gonna happen. When reporters claimed she was the best she gave looks that said "I don't know about that" but you could still tell she was excited and didn't know what to do with all the attention. Her technique was impressive and she knows she only won because her competitors (the favorites) all made mistakes. Had they performed at their best, she wouldn't have been the winner.. but I think that's what makes her win that much better!! I still love watching her LP. :)

She looks great. Nothing pretentious, nothing labored. just joyful.

Yeah she was special and she skated her heart out. I was so thrilled when she won.

This my friends, is the example I use when explaining the difference between Happiness and Joy. Joy is what Sarah felt as result of the excellence of her performance--and that is what Happiness is--the excellence of doing what your were born to do.

Incredible performance! I could watch this over and over a million times!

She stepped up to the plate and DELIVERED!!!

beauty, skill and passion! She had it all!

Her smile is beautiful!

All I can say is that by the end I knew I had witnessed something special.

When the 2002 Olympics started the reigning women's Figure Skating World Champ was Michelle Kwan the most decorated American skater ever, Slutskaya had finished second to her at World's that year. Even at the 2002 American Championships Hughes had finished behind Sasha Cohen, so when Hughes fell to 4th overall after the short program she was not considered in the race. Also she was 16 years old!

She looks like the swan that fly over the ice, she looks like a freedom swan.

Most memorable moment of the 2002 games. Disappointing that original audio is overlaid with mystery music. Ravel: Daphinis et Chloé, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Variation XI) by Rachmaninoff & Piano Concerto No. 2, Adagio by Rachmaninoff

She is so talented, beautiful performance with high skill, she deserves the golden medal

So beautiful and powerful. Gives me goosebumps to watch. Go Sarah!

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago. The gold was awarded to the best athlete of their sport because they deserved it. Nowaday's, anyone who get's the gold is subjected to ridicule,politics, accusations of robbery. The olympics used to be so fun to watch, now it's been reduced to name calling and racism and the worst part is, the althlete really has nothing to do with it. Sad

I remember this girl was always COMPETING all season skating really strong. She was really a great competitor and this is sometimes what it takes to outpoint your opponents. People forget its a sport. You have to be relatively consistent in both programs.

She was my very first "sports moment". Never watch sports but saw this when it happened. Teary eyed I get😢

An upset is one someone isnt expected to do any good against an opponent but completely destroys them :)

This programme is the real figure skating! ❤️

Unexpected!? I'd predicted this 3 yrs earlier! I kept telling everyone that the next Olympic Champion would be Sarah Hughes... from the moment I first saw her skate as a 13 yr old girl I KNEW she had it in the bag. I NEVER doubted it. I laughed continually at all those predicting Kwan, I knew, too, that was never to happen, so caught up in promotion and hype few knew what I had long seen - Sarah's determination and skill ... I'm ever thankful THESE were my first Olympics to attend and that I got to see Sarah fulfill her dreams and my prediction and faith in her - Brava!

An amazing moment in 2002.

Sarah's gold medal win in the setting of some of the "bigger names" falling during their programs, when Sarah not only skated well but also did not fall, reminds me of when Kristi Yamaguchi won her skating gold medal. Same scenario. Kristi, if my memory serves me correctly, was the only ladies single olympic skater that did not fall during the short or free programs.

1:33 : no words.

Where's the original audio? Her performance was great but replacing the broadcast audio ruins it for me.

Oh man, this performance still gives me chills. I first saw her skate when she was just 13, at her first Worlds- she was able to go because she had medaled at the Junior Worlds. She surprised everyone by skating very well and getting 7th place. She gradually improved, getting 5th place at 14, and 3rd at 15. In the season that led up to the Olympics, I thought she was the best in the world- though the judges didn't always give her credit for it. I remember there was some controversy over the Skate America decision that put her behind Michelle Kwan. But she did beat both Irina and Michelle to win Skate Canada. And when she won the Olympics- magic. Her competitive career didn't continue long after that between injuries and going to Yale- but I'm glad I got to follow her the three years that I did

I just wish Sarah would have stuck around longer. It's hard to know if she would have been able to continually compete against the world's best or if this was just a fluke. I mean, she's an Olympic champion but hardly a legend and people are going to remember Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya before they remember Sarah Hughes.

I love how this matches up with any song you put on

That was wonderful! I'm a huge fan of figure skating and that routine was most certainly a display of great skill and a work of art!

That was beautiful, you go Sarah Hughes!

All I have to say is NEVER underestimate us Americans. We can have GREAT athletes, if they don't let the media try to take them down. Look at all the success stories rather than the few glitches that can ruin it for so many. She is one of the good ones as far as I can remember.

TheFluffyHotdog ...skates are covered by tights (by some skaters) as it gives the illusion of having longer legs as the leg line is uninterrupted. Used to be a show skater thing, then it caught onto the competitive circuit....

I remember watching this and I was rooting for her!

Sarah Hughes is far ahead of her time! Remarkable skills! That last minute of her performance will be forever unforgetable! Damm, how did she ever do that????

Sometimes SIMPLICITY WINS above Glam

whoever that refers as an "Underdog " to a person that work hard to make its way through life in such hard discipline is simply an IDIOT

Still gives me goosbumps

My favorite Olympics performance of all time.

why not just use the music that she skated to?

Such beautiful moves, wonderful .

Slutskaya isnt snotty, I met her and she was kind gracious and unpretentious

I am a ice skater and that was 50X better off what i can doo like she did triple salchow followd by a double loop jump!!! Wow

Love the split jump! Beautiful!

Nice triple flutz !!

10 years gone by already.

why is it called the 'greatest upset'? i don't know figure skating someone please explain. i like her smile by the way. i think she's beautiful

awesome!! She didn't blow it like Michelle Kwan always did.

She was so amazing it looked so....Amazing and Great and Just really profesh ( I probably spelt that wrong!) ;) anyway she was amazing

she was amazing in last 15 sec

Wow, she's amazing!

What is the music? Anyone know? Update: Shazam and Soundhound both misidentify this song as 2Hurt "Days of Wine and Roses", but though that song does indeed have the same instrumental, 2Hurt "Days of Wine and Roses" was not released until 2Hurt's Mexico City Blues album on June 12, 2013, a year and a half after the upload of this Sarah Hughes video, so 2Hurt "Days of Wine and Roses" is sampling some earlier song. (And the song they're sampling is not Henry Mancini "Days of Wine and Roses", which sounds totally different from the song used by 2Hurt.)

Mdsss, que lindo! espetáculo! encantador!

I thought she was a modern Dorothy Hamill out there

She looks like the ice princess

This is the Olympics official channel. I don't understand why the original music is not used. This music is horrible and it does not at all match her skating.

Oh and I remember thinking at the time it seems she was skating with an unseen angel

It is not fake, it is the winter olympics and they happen two years after the summer in which this case the summer was Sydney 2000. DUH

beautiful woman.

Does anyone know the song used in this? I don't know but I really like it, and absolutely spectacular performance. Beautiful.

that would be so fun and she spins so gracefully and so fast

1:34 tho 😱

I remember watching this , but back then I really didn’t understand what made it so great. Watching it now , decades later , I understand it a little better. But still ... call it my ignorance as far as this particular sport goes , but I wouldn’t have the first clue on how one would go about judging these performances, I feel like it’s highly subjective, which if I had to guess would lead to a high level of corruption and politics in the sport and determining the winner. I’m glad she wasn’t robbed here , this performance was undeniable, it touched a lot of people , everyone treated it the same as US beating the Soviets at Hockey , or the Michael Phelps relay comeback win for gold, I knew it was epic , but I didn’t understand why , until now , going back and seeing it all Over again.

No matter how fair anything is there will always be those stubborn people....

Amazing....really great

151 people are nuts

My favorite is ice skating, but I like all. of the Winter Olympics

Just fantastic

I love Sarah Hughes

Still a better champion that sotnikova, Sarah at least was totally clean, sotnikova have wrong edge and a two foot landing, this rutine is much better.

take a look, 2003 nationals, she was there

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!! SARAH SKATED THE PROGRAM OF HER LIFE, SHE WAS PERFECT...WHAT REALLY HURT ME WAS MICHELLE KWAN 2 OLYMPICS IN A ROW GOT THE GOLD TAKEN FROM HER BY HER 2 UNEXPECTED TEAMMATES 1ST TARA LIPINSKI IN 1998 THEN SARAH HUGHES IN2002 AS YOU SHOW HERE...BUT THOSE TEAMMATES OF HERS SKATED PERFECT!!!THE ONLY THING THAT IRINA SLUTSKAYA HAD TO DO WITH THIS WAS SHE SKATED WELL SO THAT GAV THE GOLD TO SARAH INSTEAD OF MY IDOL MICHELLE KWAN!!!

She reminds me of sotnikova. History repeats itself.

Excellent performance congratulations 👌👌👌

Why couldn't you have used the music she actually skated to instead of this glop?

Would be better if you showed video with her skate music.

what song is this?

Everyone knows how it should be in all fairness - 1 Irina Slutskaya, Sasha Cohen, 2, 3 Michelle Kwan. Medal was stolen from Slutskaya ... Not what Sarah Hughes was not to be ...

I mean GREAT .her performance was just perfect.i bet she will have a great future as an atheist

Love her performance!

I love her perfomance! Sarah Hughes showed in this video that she is a far better skater than anyone! I never seen any person skate so well! Amazing! I will never get tired watching this video! Like you Sarah, i am an American! Good music to go along with this video!

I love this program.

She kind of reminds me of princess diana

E X C E P T I O N A L! omg

Sarah Hughes we love you as a legend. You make us getting interested with skating. This is the great moment as well. Please visit us, because we are running our RU-vid channel and it's about Korean team building activities or games.

I totally agree:)

2019