Hughes Delivers On, Off the Ice

Emily Hughes delivered a fine performance of her short program during her afternoon practice session at the Palavela on Sunday. But she had another delivery to take care of: She’d brought with her a dress that was made for Russia’s Irina Slutskaya to wear here this week.

The two patronize the same dressmaker, Tania Bass, so Hughes was able to pick up the dress before she left New York. She left it at the arena and Slutskaya received it Sunday afternoon.

And no, Hughes didn’t try to sabotage Slutskaya, the reigning world champion, by tearing a seam or removing a sequin from the dress.

“I haven’t touched it,” Hughes said, laughing.

Hughes, of Great Neck, N.Y., was promoted from Olympic alternate to Olympic skater after Michelle Kwan withdrew last week. She said she had gotten settled in to her new surroundings and had been staying at a hotel to avoid distractions but planned to visit the athletes’ village and stay there to soak up the atmosphere after the women’s competition ends.

The women’s event will begin Tuesday with the short program and finish Thursday with the long program.

“I got to run through my short program and it went really well,” Hughes said after doing a full routine that included a triple flip, triple lutz-double toe loop combination and some well-executed spirals and tight spins. “I think I’m pretty much over my jet lag.”

The 17-year-old high school junior also said that although the Olympics imposed a certain amount of pressure, she didn’t feel burdened by lofty expectations. Unlike her sister, Sarah, who went to the Salt Lake City Games as the 2001 world bronze medalist, Emily Hughes’ highest honor was third place at the 2005 world junior championships.

Emily said that Sarah, 20, had arrived with the rest of the Hughes family to cheer her on. She added that she didn’t have a specific idea about where she’d like to place.

“I think if I skate perfectly, I’ll just be happy for myself,” she said. “I’ll just focus on my skating, which is all I can control.”

Bonni Retzkin, who has coached Hughes since she was 4, said they’d made some adjustments to her programs since she finished third at the U.S. championships. They consulted Gale Tanger, a U.S. Figure Skating judge, for advice on how to elevate the levels of her spins, spirals, footwork and other moves in order to maximize her scores.

“We sent a video to her and talked back and forth,” Retzkin said.

Hughes said the changes were small, such as holding her spirals longer and doing enough revolutions on her spins to get full credit.

U.S. champion Sasha Cohen of Corona del Mar and runner-up Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air, Md., were due to leave their training base in Courmayeur on Saturday and practice at the Palavela starting today.

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Miki Ando of Japan, who became the first woman to land a quadruple jump in competition when she performed a quadruple salchow at the 2002 Junior Grand Prix Final, said Sunday that she would try the risky jump here. If successful, she’ll be the first woman to land a quad in the Olympics.

“The Olympic Games are the biggest occasion of my sports career,” she said through a translator during a news conference for her and teammates Fumie Suguri and Shizuka Arakawa. “Yes, the percentage of success is not as I want, but if there is a chance, I will try, and if it is successful again, I will thank God.”

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Cohen will skate last in the 29-woman field when the women’s figure skating competition begins Tuesday with the short program.

According to the blind draw completed Sunday afternoon, Meissner will skate second, and Hughes will skate 15th.

According to the timing sheet, Meissner will skate four hours before Cohen takes to the ice.