Olympic Artist Series, Issue #10: Emily Hughes

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And now, on to the tenth edition of our Olympic Artist Series...

Welcome to Day 10 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, and Day 10 of our editorial project featuring Olympic artists in our Ice Theatre of New York family.

Aside from world-class Olympians, these artists have served as performance partners, honorees, and advocates for Ice Theatre of New York. Looking back at all these beautiful partnerships, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to have worked with skaters who perform at the highest level of both sport and artistry.

Today, I am thrilled that we are featuring the dynamic Emily Hughes, one of our dedicated Ice Theatre of New York Board of Trustees members.

Best wishes to all the 2026 Winter Olympic Competitors!

-Moi

"She's really down to earth," says Kristina Nolte, describing her fellow member of the Harvard University Figure Skating Club. "She's really friendly and approachable on the ice." 

The "she" in question? Ice Theatre of New York Board of Trustees member, and Olympic figure skater, Emily Hughes. 

Emily managed what most Olympic-level competitors don't even attempt: pursuing elite athletics while maintaining a full course load at one of the world's most demanding universities.

While many athletes choose between the rink and the classroom, Hughes refused to make that choice. "I didn't want to take time off of high school or college just to skate," she says. "Having that balance, I think, made skating better for me and made school better for me, because it wasn't just all skating or all school." 

Born in Great Neck, New York, Emily grew up in a family where skating was simply part of the fabric of life. Her father, John Hughes, is a Toronto-born lawyer who played hockey for Cornell University. Her mother, Amy, would line up all six kids in age order and tie their skates at the community ice rink. 

Emily began skating around the age of three, and by five years old, she was already an Ice Theatre of New York apprentice.

But being the younger sister of Sarah Hughes, the 2002 Olympic figure skating champion, came with its own pressures and comparisons. Emily will never forget Sarah's golden triumph in Salt Lake City. "I remember, I was 12 or 13 when Sarah won," Emily recalls. "Every day, I saw her go to the rink, I saw her train and I thought, 'I think I could do that too.'"

Emily's competitive journey was marked by setbacks that would have discouraged many athletes. In early August 2005, she spent nearly a week in hospital due to viral meningitis. Yet she persevered, winning bronze at the 2005 World Junior Championships.

The 2006 Olympics presented an unexpected opportunity. Emily was named as the first alternate for the U.S. Olympic team after winning bronze at the 2006 U.S. Championships. When Michelle Kwan withdrew, Emily was added to the team. A then junior in high school, she flew to Torino, and placed seventh overall.

"I don't think I was really thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to go to the Olympics,'" she reflects. "It was more of a, 'Oh, I dream to go to the Olympics'—and then when it actually happened, it was just amazing." 

Following the Olympics, Emily continued to compete while preparing for college. In the 2006-2007 season, she finished second at the U.S. Championships, second at the Four Continents Championship, and ninth at the World Championships before graduating from high school in June 2007. 

That fall, she entered Harvard University.

The balancing act that followed was extraordinary. During her freshman and sophomore years, Emily scheduled her classes in the morning or afternoon to make time for training sessions. She skated a few hours each day, worked regularly with a trainer, and exercised multiple days a week on her own.

"I think that a lot of people questioned it, but I never did," Emily says. "I've always seen myself going to college, so that was never an option. Harvard is just a great place, so trying to balance the two made sense to me." 

One more Olympic dream beckoned. In 2009, Hughes took a semester off from Harvard in an attempt to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but narrowly missed making the team. "When I didn't make the Olympic team, yes, that was a failure in a sense, but there were so many other things that I've accomplished because of it," she reflects. 

Emily retired from competitive skating and graduated from Harvard in 2011 with a sociology degree. Her smooth transition from the ice to the workplace proved that the discipline and resilience learned on the ice translate beautifully to corporate life.

"I was always impressed by how tough Emily was when we were younger," her sister Sarah reflects. "She would kill herself working, working, working, but somehow, she always found some time to have fun." 

Thank you, Emily, for all you've done for our sport, our art, and our community!

This program is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy C. Hochul and the New York State Legislature. ITNY is also supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and NYC Council Members Abreu, Bottcher, Powers and Marte. ITNY's Manhattan programming is funded in part by a grant from the New York City Tourism Foundation.

Additionally, ITNY receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Daniel & Corrine Cichy Memorial Foundation,The Lisa McGraw Figure Skating Foundation, the Will Sears Foundation, and its generous private patrons.

Photo credit Hideki Aono

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