It’s been 10 years since Sarah Hughes skated her way from fourth place to a stunning gold medal win during the 2002 Winter Olympics. On Friday, the crowd in Portland will get to celebrate the anniversary with her when she joins the cast of Stars on Ice at the Cumberland County Civic Center for a special guest performance.
The current Stars on Ice tour travels to 10 cities, all of which have hosted sold-out performances of the show in the past. But only four feature performances by Hughes.
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“I’m looking forward to coming back to Portland,” said Hughes, 26, who last visited the city in 2005 during the Stars on Ice tour. “It’s a beautiful town.”
Hughes will be joined on the ice by fellow Olympians Sasha Cohen, Ekaterina Gordeeva, Ilia Kulik and Joannie Rochette, as well as world and national champions Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge, Kyoko Ina, John Zimmerman, Ryan Bradley, and Sinead and John Kerr.
“Everyone brings something very different to the show, and that’s what makes it exciting,” Hughes said.
The show is broken into two acts and features two dozen performances, including singles, doubles, ice dancing and Bradley’s signature backflip.
The theme is “Love ‘n’ Life” with music that ranges from “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele and “Love in this Club” by Usher to “The Best is Yet to Come” by Frank Sinatra and “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille.
For her part, Hughes will skate to “What I Did for Love” from the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line.”
“I wanted to do something special for the 10th anniversary of the Salt Lake Olympics,” Hughes said. “It’s a beautiful song about all the things we do for what we love. Whether we win or lose, make it or don’t — no regrets. It’s a great parable for life, because that’s what life is about too.”
During the 2002 Olympics, Hughes placed fourth in the short program, behind Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya. But when she returned to the ice for her long program and flawlessly executed seven triple jumps — including two triple-triples — she leapt into first place, while the favorites stumbled.
But don’t expect to see any of those nail-bitting triples this Friday from Hughes, who no longer skates competitively.
“I will not be doing triple-triples in the Portland show,” she said, “but I have to tell you, it really is an entertaining show.”
Since her Olympic win, Hughes has graduated from Yale University, where she majored in American studies with a concentration in politics and communities. She’s used her celebrity to advocate for Afghan women and children, and to help raise awareness of breast cancer.
Hughes is currently working on a book about the six female figure-skating Olympians who preceded her.
“It’s the story of women who broke down barriers and made the sports landscape what it is today,” she said.
Hughes is an honorary board member of Figure Skating in Harlem, and in 2010, she was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
While she’s in town, Hughes plans to do some sightseeing and check out the nightlife scene. But what she is most looking forward to is Portland’s culinary delights.
“I’ve been dying for a Maine lobster since 2005,” she said.
Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:
akamila@pressherald.com
Twitter: AveryYaleKamila
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