Cover Story

Courtesy Lee Marshall Management

Sasha Cohen

Will She Become America's New Golden Girl?

By Susan Wessling
Photos by Susan D. Russell

Two-time and reigning World silver medalist Sasha Cohen has a simple philosophy when it comes to competing: "Be prepared."

"You skate how you prepare," said the 21-year-old skater from Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Her philosophy was put to the test earlier this season, when she was forced off the ice due to a hip injury and then a subsequent illness. It was an unfortunate series of events in an Olympic season, an important one for this talented skater who is known for her artistic flair and extraordinary flexibility. In the past she also has had a reputation for being unable to deliver two clean performances when it counts, but that is something she plans to put behind her with a training regime that has included extensive strength training.

"Every year I am trying to improve," she said. "This summer I really focused on my off-ice [training], trying to get that strength. After the past three summers, I have felt enormous improvement with every year. I wish I had known about [strength training] sooner, but that was a goal of mine this summer. I also worked a lot on the spins, and the consistency in my jumping."

Having more physical prowess means she has the endurance to practice for longer periods of time, Cohen said, as well as skate stronger at the end of her programs. "You just have more physical leg strength so you can jump higher and land with more security," she said.

Probably one of the most artistic skaters of all time, Cohen is an amazingly flexible athlete. Cohen's body type and a regular stretching routine have allowed her to reach positions that seem almost impossible for a human body to achieve. But, she said, there was one down side to her training when it came to this skill. "A lot of my flexibility was because I wasn't very strong. As I have gone to the gym and done my weight training I have lost a little bit of that flexibility, which is a little bit unfortunate," she said. "But it is kind of a give or take. You can't be really strong and really flexible; it is kind of a balance there."

Sasha Cohen is the two-time and reigning World silver medalist.

A Big Test

Will gold be her color this year? Cohen has one big test ahead: She will be going head to head against Michelle Kwan at the U.S. Championships in January, an event where Kwan has won eight straight titles and nine titles overall. Cohen has been runner-up to Kwan at this event five times, from 2000-2002 and from 2004-2005 (Cohen earned the bronze in 2003 when Kwan won gold and Sarah Hughes took silver). But this season is the first one in which U.S. Figure Skating will use the new judging system at its national competition.

Going into these U.S. Championships, there has been much attention paid to the fact that Kwan will be going for title No. 10. Should Kwan win the ladies' gold medal, she will be the all-time leader in U.S. ladies titles (currently Kwan is tied with the legendary Maribel Vinson Owen). The constant media attention on Kwan is something Cohen does not find distracting to her own skating. "I am used to it by now. It happens every year [with people saying], 'It is title No. 7, No. 8, No. 9.' It is usual. That is what nationals are about," Cohen said. "She is going in defending a title. She is a very strong skater. She has won five World and nine U.S. titles. But this year with the new system, I think things will be a little different. I have improved and hopefully everything will turn out a little differently."

Cohen knows it will take some amazing performances for her to unseat Kwan as the U.S. champion. "I will have to have the technical difficulty in my program in the spins, the footwork and the jumps to have a higher point score because that is what it is all about now," she said.

While Cohen downplays her early-season woes, it was an inopportune time to be sidelined. She came out of the gate by winning the Campbell's International in early October. She didn't compete again until mid-November when she traveled to Paris for Trophée Eric Bompard where she claimed the silver medal. Japanese teenage phenom Mao Asada won the gold, but Asada is not age-eligible to compete at the Olympic Games. Cohen, who was in second after the short program, landed three triple-double combinations, but fell on the triple Salchow and finished third in the free skate.

Although the event showed that Cohen has some work to do before the U.S. Championships, considering the glitch in her training schedule earlier this season, it was an admirable showing. She missed her first Grand Prix assignment, Skate America. As she was preparing for the competition, Cohen fell hard on her hip, causing back and leg strain. "More than a serious injury, it was more something that forced me off of my training routine. I couldn't jump. I couldn't skate very long. As a result I couldn't train and prepare for Skate America," she said. "Basically by the time I could start jumping again it was time to leave for Skate America and I was in no shape to compete."

Cohen pulled out of the event but her string of bad luck wasn't over. "Right after my injury got better, I was sick for a week and half," she said. A trip to the doctor's office confirmed that Cohen had the symptoms of pneumonia. She lost her voice during this period as well. "It may have been a mild case of pneumonia but nonetheless it took a lot out of me. … I am just getting my voice back and starting to feel good," she told IFS in November. "I finally am back on track. I have had some minor inconveniences but you have to deal with what comes along."

The series of setbacks put Cohen behind in her training. "Of course I had my whole training plan of what I would have liked to have happened, but I was two weeks behind," she said. "I feel like, considering the situation, I have caught up as best I can and I am really happy with how productive I have been this last week."

Cohen has benefited from being in her home environment and working under John Nicks, who was also her coach earlier in her career. During the summer of 2002, as a teenager, Cohen left Nicks and moved to the East Coast to work with Tatiana Tarasova. About 18 months later, Cohen switched coaches again to work with Robin Wagner, also based on the East Coast.

Sasha Cohen's personality shines through when she is on the ice.

Back Home

Returning to California to train with Nicks in December of 2004, Cohen said she learned a lot about training from Tarasova and Wagner and now can use Nicks' strengths to her advantage. "I learned so much from both Tatiana and Robin. … I really learned about the whole concept of training and what it takes to be an elite athlete," she said. But, she added, it is great to be home with Nicks. "We motivate each other. Mr. Nicks is great because he is just so great with this new system. He takes every moment and makes sure he is on top of it. He is just very, very smart about it, so it has been really helpful. He also keeps things lighthearted. He knows me very well and he knows that when I am happy I do my best."

Nicks is a coach who believes skaters should be responsible for themselves and ultimately be in charge, Cohen explained. "Ultimately when you are out there on the ice, it is up to you. You are the only one out there," she said. "I think I really needed to come back into my own again. Once I learned how to train and how to prepare, I really like answering to myself and knowing it is me that is going to make it happen."

With Nicks as her coach, Cohen came back from a season that saw her sit out the Grand Prix Series in 2004-2005 and still manage to win her second straight silver medal at the 2005 World Championships. It was her first competition under the new scoring system. Cohen said she and Nicks pored over the rules to prepare for the event. "We had callers and people come in and tell us if what we did was interpreted correctly," she said. "And of course Mr. Nicks came up with a lot of great ideas to add to the program. It was a collaboration. We work really well together."

This season Cohen is skating her short program, appropriately enough, to "Dark Eyes," while her long program music is "Romeo and Juliet." Her goals are to set personal bests at the U.S. Championships and Olympic Games. In Salt Lake City in 2002, Cohen finished one spot off the Olympic podium in fourth place. She fell on the triple toe loop in her triple Lutz-triple toe combination. "It was very frustrating, very disappointing," she said. "I missed a jump I had all week in practice and I was just like, 'No, how can that happen?' It was very disappointing because the next Olympics felt like it was a lifetime away and who knew what could happen by then. It was difficult, especially being younger and less experienced. It was devastating. You just have to cope as best you can, move on and find the positive."

Cohen is proud of the fact that she made the Olympic team in 2002, she said, when no one thought she could. "And at my first major international competition I came in fourth, which was better than anyone expected of me," she added. "Also I skated two really good programs, not perfect, but good. There was that to look at and then also there was where I wanted to go with my skating [to think about]. I was really in the beginning of my exploration. I moved to Tatiana later that summer."

This year, Cohen will head into the Olympic Games in Torino as a favorite to medal, possibly even to win the gold medal. To stand on top of the podium, she will have to defeat reigning World champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia. "I think right now Irina is definitely the strongest skater going in, being the defending World champion and having had the highest point total last year at Worlds," Cohen said.

Knowledgeable Fans

Cohen has some famous and knowledgeable skating fans in her corner. In an interview with IFS last summer, 1976 Olympic champion Dorothy Hamill named Cohen as one of the skaters she admired today. "I just adore her," Hamill said.

The 1998 Olympic champion, Tara Lipinski, also has high praise for Cohen. "What I like about her is she is aggressive and spunky. She has a real life about her skating. You do not always see that in people," Lipinski said. "Some skaters are so serious, so traditional and focused. She has that but she has the other side as well."

Cohen shows no fear when she is competing, Lipinski said. "When I see her skate," the 1998 Olympic champion said, "I see a little of myself in her fire and spunk and that little hop in her skate."

When people look back at this season, Cohen said she hopes they remember her as making a strong impression. "I hope to do really emotional, amazing performances that really stick in peoples' minds and be something people really appreciate," she said. "I also would like to have all my hard work pay off when it counts."

On its purest level, Cohen said she enjoys the sense of accomplishment and validation she gets from skating. "Every day I go [to the rink] and I put in a good day of practice. When you do that, you feel really good about yourself. You know that you faced your own challenges and insecurities and that you have worked hard and came out above that," she explained. "It gives you a renewed confidence in yourself and what you can accomplish. I think that carries through into your life in general."

Perspective is an attribute Cohen also believes is important to have, both on and off the ice. Her fans help keep her grounded. "Every time I read fan mail, or a little girl asks me to sign a skate or draws a picture for me, it really brings me back down to earth," she said. "You forget about a triple Lutz and you really appreciate the fact that these people appreciate what you do. Especially on a bad day when things aren't going right, to know you have people who look up to you and appreciate the effort you are putting in, it is really balancing. I think it is healthy to have that perspective."

Her family background gives Cohen her strength. Though her parents met while college students in California, her mother, Galina, is a native of Ukraine. She left that country as a teenager when it was still part of the Soviet Union. "Just hearing the story of how they left, it makes you realize how fortunate you are to be born in today's world, in America, in a society where you can pursue your dreams and goals," Cohen said. "You pretty much have everything at your fingertips and it is basically you who will determine how far you will go. It makes you feel very lucky and grateful."