Sato Comes Out on Top Twice

If Sarah Hughes was stunned when she won the gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics, Yuka Sato was positively thunderstruck to learn she had defeated Hughes and world champion Irina Slutskaya on Saturday to win the Hallmark Skaters’ Challenge.

“We have a wonderful American Olympic champion here and a world champion here, and it was surprising for me,” said Sato, who also finished second in the pairs event with her husband, Jason Dungjen. “The last number was the fourth number for me today, and the crowd supported me from beginning to end. Without their support, I’m not sure I would have gotten through it.”

Even Hughes, still rounding into form after a torn leg muscle, was so happy for Sato she couldn’t quibble with her own third-place finish. Sato’s sweet, flowing performance to “Song of Homeland” earned marks of 5.6 to 5.8 (out of 6.0) for skating techniques and two 5.9s for presentation.

“She’s a great skater. I’ve always admired her skating since I was younger,” Hughes said of Sato, who won the 1994 world title skating for Japan.

Hughes fell on her final jump in the interpretive program, a triple toe loop, but was happy with the events of the weekend. She learned that she had been accepted at Harvard and finished second at the Crest Whitestrips International Challenge.

“I’m really proud of how I handled myself,” said Hughes, who intends to compete at next month’s U.S. championships at Dallas. “It’s been very, very difficult, especially to get back into the mindset.”

Olympic men’s champion Alexei Yagudin, second after the short program, rallied past Michael Weiss to win the $30,000 first prize. He earned two 6.0s for his routine to the aptly named “Overcome,” as he overcame a painful hip injury to win the hearts of the crowd of 5,173.

Six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, who said Saturday he won’t defend his title, finished third. Eldredge said his exit from the Olympic-eligible ranks was hastened by the U.S. Figure Skating Assn.’s decision to rescind an offer it made to him in June for him to compete in pro-am events and appear at clinics on its behalf.

He didn’t say if he attributed the snub to his decision to sign with Stars on Ice, which isn’t sanctioned by the USFSA. The rival Champions on Ice troupe has long been sanctioned by the USFSA.

John LeFevre, executive director of the USFSA, said the organization hadn’t turned against Eldredge because of his Stars on Ice deal. “No agreement was signed,” LeFevre said of the USFSA’s offer to him.

Olympic co-gold medalists Jamie Sale and David Pelletier won the pairs title. Sato and Dungjen were second, followed by Olympic bronze medalists Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China and Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China.