In January, Long Island native Emily Hughes placed third at the 2006 U.S. Championships, behind Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner , and shortly afterward was named first alternate for the U.S. Olympic team. Michelle Kwan successfully petitioned for a provisional Olympic berth after missing Nationals with a groin injury, and on January 27th she proved to a special panel that she was fit enough to compete in Torino. However, following a rough first practice on Feb. 11, when she realized the injury was still an issue, Kwan withdrew from Olympic competition. On Feb. 12 the U.S. Olympic Committee agreed to allow Hughes to replace Kwan on the U.S. team, and Hughes began making plans to travel to Torino.

Hughes entered the 2006 U.S. Championships having placed sixth in her Nationals debut in 2005. After a strong short program, in which she showed great speed and strong spins but barely held onto her triple Lutz-double toe combination, she stood in second place, behind Cohen and ahead of Bebe Liang and Meissner. In the free skate, Hughes skated well, though she fell on an attempted triple loop and doubled a planned triple Salchow. She placed third overall in that segment and dropped to third place, more than five points behind Meissner.

Hughes placed only 11th in the junior division at the 2002 and 2003 U.S. Championships. In 2004, she struggled with her form and didn't make it to Nationals, but in 2005 she placed sixth in her senior debut at the event and qualified for the World Junior Championships. There, she won a bronze medal, defeating Meissner, who had placed third at the 2005 Nationals. A bout with viral meningitis set back Hughes in her training this summer, but she had a credible fall season, making her Grand Prix debut and placing fifth at both of her events, Skate America and Cup of Russia.

Emily is the younger sister of Sarah Hughes, the 2002 Olympic ladies' figure skating champion. Then 13 years old, Emily was present in Salt Lake when Sarah delivered her stunning gold-medal free skate. There are not many similarities between the sisters' skating careers. Sarah was a world bronze medalist entering Salt Lake, while Emily has never competed at a senior Worlds. They grew up skating with different coaches and even spin and jump differently; Sarah skated "lefty" and Emily skates "righty." Sarah is now a student at Yale and was present in St. Louis when her younger sister took third at Nationals.

--NBC